Shadow Realm Emissary
by Lu-Gi-Oh
Summary: When the anime world of trophies is invaded, it is up to Goku, Kenshin, Yusuke, and many others to stop it. A parody of Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Adventure Mode, the Subspace Emissary. FINALLY COMPLETED!
1. The Invasion Begins

Shadow Realm Emissary

A/N: So after like three or four years of letting my account rot, I finally write another fanfic. Before we begin with this parody, I will like to point out that later on some events and roles were swapped around a little bit to make more sense based on the characters used, but it's nothing too drastic (I hope). So without further ado…

* * *

**Shadow Realm Emissary**

**Chapter 1: The Invasion Begins**

**By: Lu-Gi-Oh**

One day, in a world inhabited by trophies come to life, several thousand sit in a packed stadium in eager anticipation of today's match-up. However, this wasn't something as mundane as a simple spectator's sport but rather an all-out brawl between two great heroes. In this world, fighting is **serious business!**

Amongst the stands were two women. One of them was a 15 year girl with short pink hair and green eyes. She wore a red sleeveless shirt, a short skirt over short grey leggings, elbow sleeves, gloves, and a red bandana with a metal plate engraved on it wrapped around her head like a barrette. Her name was Sakura Haruno, a kunoichi from the Hidden Leaf Village.

Standing next to Sakura was a woman much older than her with black hair and a bun hairstyle. She wore a purple mandarin gown, pink pants, and an orange shoulder scarf. She was Chi-Chi, the wife of the hero, Goku.

"So, are you ready to see my husband blow away the competition?" Chi-Chi smugly asked.

"Confident, aren't we?" Sakura pointed out. "But still, I wish Naruto could be here today. I'm sure he'd stand a chance against Goku."

"Do you _really_ believe that?" Chi-Chi inquired.

"……………No," Sakura admitted.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, missy," Chi-Chi concluded.

Both ladies turn their attention to the center of the arena, where the Tenkaichi Budokai announcer was ready to begin his commentary.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's the moment you've all been waiting for!" he screamed into his microphone. "You are about to witness the clash between two legendary warriors!"

The audience cheers wildly in anticipation.

"Our first contender is the Saiyan warrior himself, the defender of Earth and the winner of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, a man whom I've personally seen his growth in strength ever since he was a kid, let's give it up for the all-powerful **GOKU**!!"

From the sky, a muscular man with a unique spiky hairstyle and wearing his iconic orange gi uniform descends onto the arena riding on a yellow cloud, the Flying Nimbus.

"Gee, thanks," Goku said smiling with one hand behind his head.

"And his opponent today is another protector of the innocent, hailing from Japan's Meiji Era, the infamous manslayer from the Boshin Wars turned wandering samurai, it's the master of battoujutsu, **KENSHIN HIMURA**!!"

An androgynous 28-year old man with long red hair in a ponytail and a cross shaped scar on his left cheek entered the arena. He was wearing a red kimono, white hakama and traditional Japanese sandals. His obi held his reverse-blade sword in place.

"Ha, ha, I'm so excited!" Goku exasperated.

"Goku sure does love fighting, that he does," Kenshin observed. "But I suppose it's time we get things started."

Both fighters got into their fighter stances, ready for the highly anticipated battle to commence.

"Fighters, ready?" the announcer called. "BEGIN!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Spirit World, someone was watching the fight via a widescreen TV in the office where he worked. He appeared to be a toddler with a blue pacifier in his mouth and wearing a hat labeled "Jr", but he, in actuality, was the 700 year old son of Enma, Koenma.

"Alright! This is almost as good as eating squid!" Koenma cheered.

The desk from where he was sitting was cluttered with stacks of paperwork. Koenma's assistant, a blue ogre named George, walks in carrying another big stack of papers.

"Whaaaaaat!?" George yells. "You mean to tell me that you had me pick up these heavy stacks of paper from halfway across the Spirit World while you were watching TV on the job!?"

"Yep, that's pretty much it," Koenma confessed straight up. Waterfall tears flow down George's face. "You're so cruel, sir."

Koenma continued to watch the match excitedly with George now as an onlooker.

* * *

The match was over. The victor? Goku, naturally. Kenshin falls to the ground as a lifeless trophy. "And we have our winner!" the announcer blared into his mike. Goku steps over to the Kenshin trophy and lightly taps the stand. In a bright flash, Kenshin is brought back to life, albeit flat on his back with swirly eyes and moaning a drawn out "huah".

"That was fun!" Goku said while helping Kenshin up. "You're pretty strong!"

"Thank you," Kenshin replied, regaining his composure. "But it looks like I'm no match for a Saiyan, that I'm not."

The two shake hands and wave for the audience as the audience exploded in cheers. It was the conclusion of a spectacular event…

…until a rumbling sound is heard.

"Huh?" Goku looks up to see the blue sky being swallowed by dark red clouds. A huge grey blimp with the letters "Kc" labeled on the sides slowly ascends over the stadium.

Kenshin mutters to himself, "Is that some kind of aircraft?"

After a few seconds, it finally hits Goku. "Hey, wait a minute! I recognize this blimp now! It's Kaiba's! It was where the quarter-finals of that Duel Monsters tournament, Battle City, took place on. I watched it on TV with Gohan."

"So what is he doing here now?" Kenshin pondered.

Just then, a hatch opens up from the bottom of the blimp, releasing small brown oval shaped particles onto the stadium.

"Hey! That blimp is trying to take a shit on us!" Goku accused.

But as the particles landed, they lumped together and formed into what looked like creatures of darkness made out of brown clay.

"It seems we are experiencing technical difficulties, folks," the announcer informed the audience. "So I'm just going to get out of here before I end up like Krillin," he declared as he slowly backs away to the stands.

The creatures now have Goku and Kenshin completely surrounded. "This isn't looking too good," Goku proclaimed.

"Hold on, guys! I'll help you!" Sakura announced as she rushes down the stairs.

"Me too!" said Chi-Chi following suit. I won't let a teenage girl risk her life while I just sit in the sidelines!"

As both women reach the end of the stairs, Sakura leaps into the air and performs a Body Flicker Jutsu, seemingly teleporting right behind Goku and Kenshin. Chi-Chi also jumps from the stairs and lands next to the boys just a second after Sakura.

"Oh, so you're actually going to fight too, Chi-Chi?" Goku asked. "Alright! It'll be just like old times!"

"Does anyone here know what we're up against?" questioned Kenshin as they all got into their fighter stances.

Sakura eyes the creatures in front of her closely until she realizes…

"Hold on a second! I read about these creatures once. They're called Masses."

"Masses?" the others asked confusingly.

"Yeah. They're small creatures that move around in a group as of like they're a single entity. However, if they sense a mind more strongly willed than they are, they will base their behavior on the thought patterns of that creature."

"So you're suggesting that something, or someone, is causing these Masses to behave this way?" Kenshin hypothesized.

"Yes, especially since they're usually gentle by nature."

"Which means the question is who has the power and desire to bend these creatures to their will?" Kenshin wondered.

"We have no time to worry about that," Goku reminded them. "Right now, we just have to focus on beating these guys."

"Yeah! Let's show them what we're made of!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. The others nod in agreement.

Goku flies into the crowd and plows into a few of the Mass Monsters with his insane strength, causing them to shatter back to independent Masses. Sakura pounds away with her chakra enhanced blows. "SHANNARO!!" she cries out after decking one of the Mass Monsters in the face. Kenshin batters his assailants with his reverse-blade sword with enough force to scatter them about. Chi-Chi thrusts her fingers forward and jabs several Mass Monsters hard enough to make them disperse.

Not before long, the four managed to repel the wave of Masses off, but their troubles were just beginning. A mysterious figure wrapped in robes with luminous green eyes hovers down to the stadium riding on a floating platform.

"Who is that guy?" Goku questioned.

"Judging from the clothes, he looks like some kind of minister," Kenshin reasoned.

"I guess for now we'll just call him the Mysterious Minister," shrugged Sakura.

The Mysterious Minister remains silent as he drops the huge orb protruding from the underside of the platform. Two human-sized mobile suits grab each end of the orb and pull it open to reveal…

"A BOMB!" all four heroes gasped.

The bomb's countdown begins with just three minutes on the clock. The Mysterious Minister nods and floats back to Kaiba's blimp, the Kaiba Craft 3.

"Does anyone here know how to disarm a bomb?" Kenshin asked desperately.

"I don't," Sakura admitted sadly. "We don't have modern technology in the Leaf Village, except when we do."

"Don't worry, guys," Goku reassured them as he runs over to the bomb. "I'll just use my Instant Transmission and teleport the bomb to an uninhabited plane…"

BOOM!

"What was that?"

**WHAM!**

A lightning fast cannonball launches Goku so far into the air that he makes a twinkle in the sky.

"GOKU!" yelled Kenshin.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

Kenshin turns around and finds both ladies trapped in cages. The cages were held up, one in each hand, by a monstrous looking ghost about twice the height of a human and wearing a skull-like mask on its face. It was a Hollow.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Goku was just knocked clear out of the stadium!" commented the announcer, now in the "safety" of the announcer's booth. "I don't know what that thing is, but if it beat Goku that easily, I think we're in trouble, folks!"

"I'll give you one warning. Release Miss Sakura and Miss Chi-Chi now," Kenshin demanded.

The Hollow just roars in Kenshin's face.

"Then you leave me no choice but to fight."

"Ha! You're in for it now, creep!" Chi-Chi interjected.

Using the god-like speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi-Style, Kenshin bashes the Hollow repeatedly with his sword. He then aims for Sakura's cage in hopes of freeing her, but the Hollow recovers quickly from Kenshin's assault and rises the cage over Kenshin's head.

"Watch out!" warned Chi-Chi.

But it was too late as the Hollow slams the cage down right on top of Kenshin.

"Oh no!" the announcer cried.

The Hollow grins triumphantly, until…

"So it seems you're more durable than I thought."

The Hollow turns its head to see Kenshin, perfectly fine, standing beside him. Kenshin avoided being crushed after all. "But with my time running short, I'm afraid I must end this quickly."

Kenshin sheathes his sword and crouches down, right hand over hilt, ready to draw.

"Wait! Could he be using…?" the announcer commented.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-Style: **ULTIMATE ATTACK!!**

In less than a blink of the eye, the Hollow was flung into the air and instantly KOed, completely confounded by what happened. Kenshin stood where the Hollow was less than a second earlier with his sword drawn out. The Hollow had just been hit by the succession technique of the Hiten Mitsurugi-Style, the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki.

The force from the Hollow hitting the ground was enough to break Sakura's cage, and she immediately leaps out and joins Kenshin. However, another figure jumps out of the dust cloud caused by the Hollow's crash. This man had veins all over his face, purple eyes, spiky light blonde hair that stuck out everywhere, and the Eye of Anubis marked on his forehead. He wore a plain sleeveless black shirt, a purple cape with a gold chain in front, armbands, and bracelets on his wrists. The man laughs maniacally as he lands.

"So you're involved in this," Kenshin reasoned.

"Who is that?" Sakura gasped.

"One of Yugi Muto's enemies," Kenshin clarified. "He once tried to take the power of the Egyptian God Cards for himself."

"I'm flattered you've heard of me, Battousai," said Yami Marik. "I also must commend you for defeating my mind slave."

"What are you doing here?" Sakura demanded.

"I'm just here for a little collecting." A Dark Cannon materializes in his hands. "Trophy collecting, to be exact, and I have you two in my sights, you fools!"

"Ugh," They all turn their heads to see Chi-Chi crawling from her cage weakly.

"Then again," Marik points the Dark Cannon at Chi-Chi. "This will definitely get a rouse out of that Saiyan."

"Chi-Chi, watch out!"

"Miss Chi-Chi, you must get up now!"

But it was too late as the Dark Cannon shoots an arrow out and hits Chi-Chi. She falls to the ground as a lifeless trophy. Marik jumps over to her and collects his prize.

"You'll pay for that!" Sakura yelled as she gives chase.

"I'd be more concerned about that bomb over there if I were you," Marik chuckled.

Both heroes turn around to the bomb. It only has a few seconds left on the countdown.

"Shit! We forgot about the bomb!" Sakura realized.

"That's right, and once it goes off, you and everyone else in this stadium will be sent to the Shadow Realm!" Marik gloated.

"HUH?!" they both replied.

Sakura breaks character and informs Marik, "Y'know, this isn't a 4Kids dub, so you can go ahead and say its going to blow us up."

"No, actually, it really _will_ send you to the Shadow Realm, or at least that dark, other dimension-y place where Shadow Games take place in, or whatever that place is."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Marik said, getting back into character. "Sorry to hit and run, fools, but I have more victims to find." With Chi-Chi held over his shoulder, Marik disappears in a single bound.

Kenshin frantically looks around the arena for something, _anything_, which can help them in their plight as the detonator countdown was dangerously close to zero.

3…

2…

Kenshin finally lays his eyes on Goku's Flying Nimbus, which was left on the field since before their fight…

1…

The entire stadium is engulfed in a dome of darkness. The Flying Nimbus, with Kenshin and Sakura in tow, flies from the stadium, escaping the explosion with not a second to spare.

Kenshin slams his fist on the cloud in frustration. "Goku, Chi-Chi, all of those people in the audience. I couldn't protect any of them."

"None of this is your fault, Kenshin," Sakura comforted. "And it's not too late to save any of them. But what I don't get is why would Kaiba do something like this?"

"I don't know. But we will find out, that we will," Kenshin answered, determined.

* * *

A/N: And so began the invasion on the anime world of trophies. What will Kenshin and Sakura do now? What happened to Goku after getting hit by the cannonball? Who else will join the fight? All these answers and more next time on the **Shadow Realm Emissary**!

Preview: On the next chapter of the **Shadow Realm Emissary**, Koenma sends off a certain spirit detective to help fight off the Mass Monsters, Goku is revived, and Kenshin and Sakura are pursued by the Kaiba Craft 3. Stay tuned.


	2. Attack on Spirit World

Chapter 2: Attack on Spirit World

A/N: Thank you for the reviews…both of you. I should point out, though, that I've already thought of all the characters I'm using for this fanfic before I even started writing it. That being said, I'm going to come out and say ahead of time that I didn't get the idea of making Yugi the Pokemon Trainer from a different fanfic.

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**Chapter 2: Attack on Spirit World**

A short while later in the Spirit World, two more figures stand in Koenma's office. One of them was a woman with blue hair wrapped in a ponytail and wearing a pink kimono. She was Botan, the guide to the Spirit World. The other was an angry looking teenage boy with black hair and wearing a green Japanese school uniform. His name was Yusuke Urameshi, the appointed Spirit Detective of the Earth. He was being shown a replay of the events that occurred in the stadium.

"So let me get this straight," said Yusuke. "You're telling me that there was a battle between Goku and Kenshin, and you _don't even tell me about it?_ What the hell, Koenma!"

"Yusuke, this is serious," Botan sighed.

"You're damn right it's serious! You know how long I've wanted to see that?" Yusuke complained.

"Look, Yusuke. You can bitch to me all you like AFTER we solve this crisis," Koenma proposed.

"You mean those ugly piles of crap and that blimp they came out of?" questioned Yusuke.

"Precisely," Koenma replied. "Your next assignment, Yusuke, is to…"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Yusuke interrupted. "I'm supposed to find and stop whoever's in control of that blimp, beat up any of those goons I come across, and prevent anymore of those Shadow Realm Bombs from going off, am I right?"

Koenma answers Yusuke with a nod as he digs in his desk for a remote control. As he finds it, he points it to the TV screen and clicks. The image changes to a radar.

"With this spiritual radar, we should be able to pinpoint the current location of the Kaiba Craft 3," Koenma explained.

A single dot blinks repeatedly on the screen, indicating the blimp's location. Koenma studies the screen carefully but suddenly jumps back in surprise.

"What? It can't be!"

"What is it, Koenma?" Botan asked worryingly as she looks at the screen. She too jumps in surprise.

Yusuke, however, was completely perplexed. "Okay, what is it that has you guys so damned spooked?" he demanded impatiently.

"According to the radar, the craft is currently HERE, as in here in the spirit world!" Koenma cleared up.

"But how exactly did it GET here?" Botan asked, completely baffled.

Yusuke, rather then question the strange turn of events, merely gives off a smug smirk. "At least I won't have far to walk," he reasoned.

* * *

A little while later, Yusuke stands on a patch of land suspended in midair and surrounded by clouds. In the distance, the Kaiba Craft 3 rises from the clouds.

"So that must be our mystery blimp," Yusuke stated to no one.

The Kaiba Craft 3 flies overhead Yusuke, dropping Masses as it goes by. The large blimp continues onward until it disappears from sight, but not before Yusuke flips it off. The Masses take form and surround Yusuke.

"So, which one of you jokers wants an ass-kicking first?" Yusuke boasted confidently. "Eeny, meeny, miny…ah, what the hell, let's just take out all of you in one go. **SHOTGUN!!**"

Yusuke fires blue blasts of spirit energy from his fist, obliterating all of the Masses in front of him. He turns around and does likewise to the ones behind him. More Masses appear in their place, but Yusuke manages to defeat them all.

Yusuke looks around the horizon and notices a trophy lying down on the clouds up ahead. On closer inspection, Yusuke realizes that it's Goku. With a tap on the stand, a revitalized Goku begins to stir.

"Ugh, what happened?" Goku moaned. The memory of himself getting knocked out of the stadium flashed in his mind. "Oh no! The bomb!"

"Yeah, about that. It kinda already went off," Yusuke informed him grimly.

"What! What about Chi-Chi and the others?" Goku wailed.

"I'll explain on the way. But for now…" Yusuke points in the direction of the Kaiba Craft 3, "…we have a blimp to catch."

Goku and Yusuke race off after the Kaiba Craft 3, running into more Masses on the way, this time, appearing in more varieties of forms. They are still no match for the duo; however, as they get blasted away from a combination of ki and reiki blasts.

The two heroes eventually reach the end of the cloud road they were traveling on, and the Kaiba Craft 3 is just ahead of them, getting away.

"Dammit! We can't go any further!" Yusuke protested.

"Actually, I can…" Goku started to say, but was interrupted by a passing spacecraft that soars over their heads, chasing after the Kaiba Craft 3. It was a fast red ship with a long pointy nose (as in the airplane kind of nose), outstretched wings and a long plasma cannon that stuck out in front mounted on the undercarriage. The ship's shape somewhat resembled that of a swordfish, which was probably why it was named the Swordfish II.

"Looks like we're not the only ones trying to pop that balloon," Yusuke figured.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sakura, still riding the Flying Nimbus with Kenshin, notices that they're being tailed.

"Um, Kenshin? The Kaiba Craft 3 is chasing us!" she informed him.

"Huh!?" Kenshin exclaimed as he looks back. Sure enough, the blimp is behind them, but a good distance away.

After thinking to himself for a few seconds Kenshin reassures Sakura, "Well, it _is_ a blimp, and the Flying Nimbus is actually pretty fast, that it is. We should be able to outfly it."

But as soon as he says that, the Kaiba Craft 3, literally with the push of a button, transforms. The Kaiba Craft 3 now more closely resembled an airship than a blimp. (A/N: This is the form the Kaiba Craft 3 takes when it escapes from Virtual World, BTW)

And unfortunately for Sakura and Kenshin, the aircraft becomes _much_ faster.

"You just _had_ to say something, didn't you, Kenshin?" Sakura lamented.

The nose of the ship rams right into the back of the Flying Nimbus, but Kenshin and Sakura are able to jump from the cloud to the Duel Monsters dueling arena that sits atop the Kaiba Craft 3.

"At least we're aboard the ship now," Kenshin pointed out.

Before the duo can take ten steps, their attention is drawn to the airship opening fire on the Swordfish II, which caught up to the gargantuan jet. A dog fight ensures between the two aerial ships as the Swordfish II skillfully dodges all the Kaiba Craft's attacks. However, a crane extends from the Kaiba Craft and hits the smaller spaceship, heavily damaging it. It spirals out of the sky, falling right towards Kenshin and Sakura.

"Get down!" Kenshin warned as they both duck their heads.

The Swordfish II passes over them, missing their heads by mere inches, but the force of the bypassing ship is enough to blow them off the Kaiba Craft.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!" Sakura screamed.

"HUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!" Kenshin screamed.

* * *

A/N: What a predicament! Kenshin and Sakura fall to their doom! Or so it seems. What will Goku and Yusuke do now? And who was piloting the Swordfish II? Find out these answers and more on the next exciting chapter of the **Shadow Realm Emissary**!

Preview: On the next chapter of the **Shadow Realm Emissary, **another villain in league with the invaders sets a trap for two alchemists, one of whom "enlists" the help of a bounty hunter. Stay tuned.


	3. The Elric Brothers Make Their Stand

Chapter 3: The Elrics Make Their Stand

**Chapter 3: The Elric Brothers Make Their Stand**

In a jungle, two humanoid-aliens with octopus like heads and wearing what looked like gladiator armor with particularly large shoulder, thigh, and crouch guards rides alongside a cliff some type of hovering vehicle called a Cargo. One of them is in front driving the Cargo with the steering stick. The other is sitting in the back along with the freight they were carrying with the Cargo; a huge glowing red stone.

"Hurry up!" the passenger ordered.

"This thing is driving as fast as it can go, shut up!" the driver snapped in retaliation.

Not too far from them, hidden from their view by the trees, are more of their comrades, though not all of them looked like they did. In fact, the foot soldiers were very diverse in looks, ranging from looking completely human except for blue skin and orange hair to humanoid purple lizards. All of them, however, wore the same type of armor, along with monocles that covered their left eyes.

However, the soldiers in the jungle are fighting…and losing, to a suit of armor. No, not somebody _wearing_ a suit of armor, but a suit of armor actually moving on its own. After dispatching all of the peons, the suit of armor leaps past the trees into the clearing, only the see the two underlings in the Cargo driving away on a dirt road.

"Wait, come back here!" the suit of armor cries out in a surprisingly un-angry tone. The suit of armor sounds very child-like.

"This oughta take care of you!" the passenger foot soldier declared as he shoots three ki blasts from his hands.

"…Brother…" the suit of armor calls out with a slight hint of fear.

"Got you covered, Al," said a boy who suddenly runs out of the jungle and jumps into the air. The boy was a rather short (but **NEVER** say that to his face) 15-year old with blond hair and a ponytail. He wore a red jacket over his all-black uniform, along with black boots, white gloves, and black pants. He also had a prosthesis right arm and left leg, both made out of metal.

The boy claps his hands together, and his prosthesis arm suddenly transforms into a mini-cannon. He fires two shots from it and destroys two of the ki blasts. The third one, however, still approaches the two brothers.

"Um, Ed, you missed one," Al informed.

"Don't worry, Al, I got this," Edward ensured him. He fires again, taking out the last ki blast, just in the nick of time. Ed lands and transmutes the cannon back to an arm, looking ahead to see the Cargo getting away.

"So who were those guys anyway?" Al asked his brother.

"How should I know," Ed shrugged. "Those were the ugliest chimeras I've ever seen! I also have no idea why they led us out here into this jungle. But the one thing I do know is that, _somehow, _these guys have a complete Philosopher's Stone, and we haven't come this far just to quit now. We're finally going to get our bodies back, Al."

And so, the two brothers trek off after the Cargo, defeating any "chimera" that got in their way. After many battles, Ed and Al finally reach an open space in the heart of the jungle.

"The Philosopher's Stone!" they both yelled out. Sure enough, the stone is right in front of them, completely unguarded.

"Yes! After all this time, we finally found it!" Ed exclaimed.

But Al wasn't quite as enthusiastic. "Something's not right here," he realized. "Why would they just leave the stone out here in the open where we can easily find it? Unless if…"

"…That's right, you pathetic humans, IT'S A TRAP!!" came a voice behind them.

The Elric brothers turn around to see a slim, short, (yes, another short guy!) humanoid figure with a lizard-like tail. His skin was all-white, except for the top of his head, shoulders, forearms, chest, and shins, which were all purple. He looked at the two alchemists with his black lips curved into a smirk.

"Oh, and by the way, the stone's a fake," Frieza taunted.

"Look, pal, I have no idea who you are or what you want with us, but you're going to pay for jerking us around like this!" Ed threatened.

"Ha! You fool! I am the supreme overlord of the entire galaxy! What's a little shrimp like you going to do to me?" Frieza mocked.

Al barely has time to grab Ed by the jacket before he goes completely postal on Frieza.

"**WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' A LITTLE SHRIMP, YOU LITTLE SHRIMP!? YOU'RE NOT EXACTLY A GIANT YOURSELF, YOU KNOW!! I'LL WRAP THAT TAIL AROUND YOUR NECK AND GIVE YOU A NEW PAIR OF SHOULDERS!!**"

As Al restrains a berserk Edward, Frieza pulls out a Dark Cannon from hammerspace and prepares to fire. Al takes notice and manages to throw the enraged teenager just before the cannon goes off.

"Al?" Ed says, suddenly coming out of his rage. He looks down just in time to see Al get shot and trophified by the Dark Cannon.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!" Ed cried desperately before twinkling in the sky.

* * *

Meanwhile, on open plains, Goku and Yusuke are on the Mysterious Minister's trail. Goku had teleported himself and Yusuke back to the Human World, and now the minister was just ahead of them, carrying with him another Shadow Realm Bomb.

"Yo, Robes!" Yusuke calls out to the minister while in pursuit. He springs into the air, reaching for the Shadow Realm Bomb, but narrowly misses. Goku rises from behind Yusuke, lands and jumps off his head, and still doesn't quite reach the bomb. They both land (in Yusuke's case, painfully) and can only watch as the minister gets away.

"Goddamn it, Goku! What did you jump on my head for!? Can't you fly!?" Yusuke complained, struggling to get up.

"Oh yeah," said Goku as of like he just had an epiphany. "I guess I'm just so hungry that I wasn't thinking straight."

Yusuke facefaults and somehow flips onto his back. "And Genkai calls ME a dimwit!" he grouched.

* * *

Edward swings through the jungle vines in a hurry. He only has one objective in his mind now.

"Don't worry, Al. I'm coming to rescue you," he thought to himself.

However, Ed didn't have much sense of direction in the thick jungle. He eventually ends up in a clearing next to a lake. Not far from Ed was the crashed Swordfish II that attacked the Kaiba Craft 3.

"What's that?" Ed wondered. "Is that some kind of vehicle? It looks heavily damaged though. However, I might be able to repair it with my alchemy and then I can use it search the jungle faster."

Before Ed can take three steps towards the downed spacecraft, something huge splashes out of the nearby lake. It was a long creature with two distinct halves. The front half looked like the upper body of a human woman with six arms, long fangs (especially the two front teeth), nearly pupil-less eyes, and a freakishly long tongue. The lower half looked like the body of a giant centipede.

"WHERE IS THE SHIKON JEWEL!?" Mistress Centipede demanded.

"The WHAT!?" Ed yapped, completely confused.

Mistress Centipede fires a large blast of demonic energy into the Swordfish, causing a small explosion.

"GIVE ME THE JEWEL!" she continued.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, lady!" Ed said truthfully.

Before Ed knew it, the demon snatches him from the air and flies back over the lake.

"I SHALL HAVE THE SHIKON JEWEL!"

As Ed cowers in her arms, the cockpit of the Swordfish II pops open, and the ship's pilot ejects high into the air. Mistress Centipede only has enough time to stare in awe before the pilot zooms by lightning fast, so fast that he leaves behind after-images, and frees Ed from her clutches.

As they both land, Ed gets a good look at his rescuer; a tall and thin man with fluffy dark-green hair and reddish-brown eyes, the right one being a lighter shade than the left. He was wearing a blue leisure suit with a yellow shirt, a tie, and a pair of boots. His name was Spike Spiegel.

"Fluid as water," Spike said simply.

Mistress Centipede gathers energy into her mouth, preparing a shot of energy directly aimed at Spike. Spike calmly pulls out his Jericho 941 and shoots the demon between the eyes, knocking her back into the lake.

"Man, that was anti-climatic," Ed stated the obvious.

"Well that takes care of that," Spike declared as he walks off. Ed grabs his shirt and pulls him back.

"You gotta help me rescue my brother…" Ed pleaded until he notices Spike walking away again.

"Sorry, kid. Got a bounty to catch," Spike said.

Ed grabs him again, this time dragging Spike in the opposite direction. "We're coming, Al!" Ed shouted.

Spike sighs to himself. "And this is why one of the three things I hate the most is kids."

"Who're you callin' a kid? I'm 15 years old," Ed informed him.

"What? You're 15 and you're that short?" Spike inquired.

Spike had no time to ponder such questions, as Ed grabs him by the hair and swings him around wildly in over-exaggerated anime fashion.

"**SHORT!? I'LL SHOW YOU SHORT!! I'LL BITE YOUR KNEECAPS OFF AND WE'LL SEE WHO IS SHORT THEN!! WHAT ELSE YOU WANNA CALL ME!? A HALF-PINT, BEAN SPROUT MIDGET!?**"

* * *

After Ed was done dealing out his punishment, Ed and an unwilling Spike continued the search for Al and Frieza in the jungle, taking down more of Frieza's henchmen on the way. A long walk later, the two manage to find Frieza again.

"There you are, you bastard! Give me my back my brother!" Ed demanded.

Frieza, being uncharacteristically silent, merely holds his hand out and a circular-shaped red light is visibly seen traveling through his arm until it reaches the palm of his hand.

"What the?" Ed questioned.

"Watch out!" Spike warned.

They both barely have enough time to get out the way before a white beam attack is shot from the hand. The blast leaves a huge crater in the ground. Frieza's arm, which was completely blown off, somehow regenerates and prepares for a second shot.

"Man, that's powerful!" Spike said redundantly.

"I don't care if that move is strong enough to destroy the planet! I'm going to beat the snot out of this guy!" Ed declared boldly.

Transmuting a blade onto his auto-mail arm, Ed rushes Frieza, but the tyrant effortlessly dodges his swings. With a simple punch, Frieza sends Ed flying to the nearest tree several yards away.

"Guess it's my turn now," Spike figured. Frieza approaches him and throws a few punches at him, but Spike, with his natural swiftness along with his proficiency at Jeet Kune Do, is also no stranger to avoiding attacks. Spike tries to get a punch or kick in between Frieza's attacks, but Frieza blocks each one.

"Damn, you're fast!" Spike commented.

Frieza trips Spike with his tail and, in mid-fall, shoves him a good thirty feet.

"This isn't working!" said Ed frustrated. "He's too fast and powerful! If only there was a way to keep him still…"

"Oh, I can do that," Spike told him. "How long do you need?"

"Just a couple of seconds."

"Alright, then."

Spike strolls back over to Frieza, ready for Round 2. When Spike gets just outside of Frieza's arm reach, he goes for his gun, but it's knocked out of his hand by Frieza's foot before he can get it out. Spike scrambles for his fallen weapon and Frieza follows suit. When Spike reaches his gun, instead of bending down and picking it up, he unexpectedly turns around, grabs Frieza's arm, and flips him over onto his back.

"Now, Ed!" he barked.

Not needing to be told twice, Edward claps his hands and slams them into the ground. After a bright flash, a huge, poorly drawn cannon, at least two stories high, appears below Ed's feet, and aimed right at Frieza.

"This is for Al, you bitch!"

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!**

As the dust clears, above the huge smear in the grass lays a trophified Frieza.

"There. You happy now?" Spike asked in a not-so-nice tone as he recovers his gun.

"Not until I find Al," Ed answered, jumping off the cannon. "But those were some pretty smooth moves there. You gotta teach me how to do that 'grabbing-people-by-the-arm-and-flipping-them-over' thing."

"Ugh, not again," Spike groaned.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Spike lied. He pulls a worn out cigarette from his pocket and puts it in his mouth.

Noise coming from Frieza's trophy draws their attention. They see Frieza's trophy dissolving.

"What?! I didn't mean to _kill_ him!" Ed exclaimed.

But as soon as he says that, he notices that the trophy was forming into little oval-shaped creatures.

"What the hell is this?" Ed protested. Spike's eyes open up slightly, intrigued. "I knew Masses could assume the shapes of others, but I didn't know that they could change their colors too," Spike shared.

Just as all of the Masses scatter, the duo sees a Dark Cannon arrow shot at them with just enough warning for them to move out of its trajectory. Frieza, the REAL Frieza, fires a second shot, which misses Ed's feet by inches, creating a small explosion.

"Oh, so there you are! So, are you going to fight us yourself this time, or are you going to use more creatures as your shield? Come and fight us like a man!" Ed dared.

But Spike, knowing the capabilities of the Dark Cannon, was certain that they weren't in a favorable situation. Spike gets a firm hold of Ed, conveys to Frieza a simple "Later!", and runs off a nearby cliff.

"Hey, what're you doing!? We have to rescue Al!" Ed complained as they fell.

"So they decide to flee like the cowards they are," Frieza insulted. "But no matter. I can squash those insects at anytime."

* * *

A/N: One point for Frieza. What will he do with Al? What is Ed and Spike's next move? Will Yusuke's head ever stop hurting? All of this will be answered…okay, so it won't, but read the next chapter anyway, okay?

Preview: The invaders target two mecha pilots, and the champion of a certain children's card game lends a helping hand, next time on the **Shadow Realm Emissary**!


	4. The Third Child Targeted

Chapter 4: The Third Child Targeted

**Chapter 4: The Third Child Targeted**

It is almost completely deserted, the long-since abandoned zoo, which has since fallen into decay and disrepair. Only one individual loiters on the premises, a 14-year old boy, whom, by all appearances, looked like an ordinary high school student. He was wearing a typical school uniform, as well as headphones over his ears, listening to the SDAT player in his hand. The boy is effectively cutting himself from the world as he wanders on with his head down and with a gloomy look on his face.

The boy's attention is snapped back into reality as he raises his head, only to find himself encased in a circle by a group of Mass Monsters.

"What? W-who are you guys?" Shinji Ikari called out nervously. He doesn't exactly have a good feeling about this.

His intuition is soon justified, as he feels the earth shake periodically, each quake growing in intensity. It sounds like the steps of something big coming from behind him so Shinji looks behind him, and, to his shock, a giant statue shaped like an impish looking monster was heading his way. Panicked, he only thinks of running away from the statue.

The statue chases Shinji halfway around the entire zoo, crushing anything in its path. Shinji tries desperately to get away, but he simply can't outrun it. Shinji even tries to take the offensive a few times, but the statue is completely impervious to all of his attacks.

Eventually, Shinji trips over a snag growing out of the cracks in the concrete. _Somehow_, Shinji manages to trap his leg underneath the snag. "No!" Shinji cried to himself. Struggling to free himself does Shinji no good and with statue only a few steps away; Shinji cowers and braces himself for his inevitable end.

But just in the nick of time, the statue gets shot in the face by a laser, knocking it off its feet. A brown-haired guy holding a human-sized beam rifle and wearing a mostly blue military uniform steps in between Shinji and the statue.

"Amuro Ray!" Shinji gasped.

As the statue gets back on his feet, Amuro Ray, the renowned and legendary Gundam pilot, takes another shot with his beam rifle. This time, the beam hits dead in the chest, piercing through the stone completely and comes out through the other side. A brief pause later, the statue combusts completely, revealing a mech shorter than either of them. The mech more-or-less looked liked a purple sphere with arms and legs. Through the windshield, Amuro could see the mech's pilot, a short blue imp wearing a blue and red cap with a star in front.

"So you destroyed my remote-controlled statue, eh?" Emperor Pilaf said from inside his mech. "But if you want to surrender, now's the time. My Pilaf Machine is more powerful than you think!" he added.

"Uh…yeah, right," Amuro snarked sarcastically.

"You dare insult me, the emperor and future ruler of the world?" Pilaf roared. "Fine then, let's see how you like THIS! Mai! Shu! Get over here, now!" he ordered.

Two bigger mechs join Pilaf's side, one of them pink and piloted by a beautiful woman, the other one green and piloted by an anthropomorphic dog in a ninja-suit.

"Yes, sir!" Mai and Shu complied.

"Let's do it!" Pilaf told them. They each leap into the air and the three mechs combine into one, Shu being the legs, Mai the torso, and Pilaf the head.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Pilaf said lamely.

"Okay, that was impressive," Amuro admitted.

Shinji finally frees himself from under the snag. "Hey kid, aren't you the pilot for Eva 01?" Amuro asked him. Shinji nods meekly. "Then what were doing running then? Didn't NERV issue you weapons in case you get attacked?" Amuro pried.

"They did," Shinji answered docilely.

"Then USE THEM!" Amuro suggested loudly.

"Okay," Shinji obeyed.

Shinji pulls out a pallet gun, accommodated for his size, and joins Amuro at opening fire at the new combined Pilaf Machine. They do moderate damage to it.

"Oh, yeah? Get a load of this! Fire the lasers!" Pilaf commanded.

Two hatches open up from the machine's…er, bust, and lasers are fired at the pilots, but they dodge in time.

"That…was just wrong," Amuro pointed out.

The Pilaf Machine turns around and slaps its butt, taunting the pilots. "How do you like us now?" Pilaf mocked.

But Pilaf soon learned how foolish a mistake this was, as Amuro shoves a beam saber right in the unmentionable.

"As Kakashi would say, **Sennen Goroshi**!" Amuro called out.

The mech turns back around, sword still impaled.

"Fine! You leave us no choice then! Fire the missiles!" he directed.

The Pilaf Machine proceeds to fire a missile from…its crouch.

"What is _wrong_ with you guys?" Amuro wondered.

Shinji manages to shoot down the missile before it gets near them.

"Now it's time we finish this," Amuro announced. "**FIN FUNNELS!!**"

Controlling them with his mere thoughts, Amuro summons six miniature fin funnels. They flutter around the battlefield haphazardly at an amazing speed, firing on the Pilaf Machine so fast that it couldn't counterattack in time. The ongoing barrage of attacks was too much for the mech to handle and it explodes, leaving its pilots charred but only unconscious.

Shinji runs to Amuro's side. "Whoa! You're able to control those things?" Shinji asked.

"That's right. All of them custom built by yours truly and specifically designed to channel into my thought patterns," Amuro bragged a little.

"That's amazing," Shinji said in awe. "Unlike me," he added sadly.

"Awww, isn't this sweet?" said a voice.

They look up on a high stump to see Marik pointing a Dark Cannon at them.

"I really do need to find better mind slaves," Marik noted. "But no matter. You'll make an excellent addition to my trophy collection, newtype."

He fires a shot at Amuro, but he effortlessly sidesteps it. Undeterred, Marik fires several more shots in rapid succession, but Amuro evades all of the arrows easily and gracefully.

"It seems that your reflexes are too good, newtype," Marik commended. "So I guess I'll just have to settle for the wimp."

He aims the cannon right at Shinji. Amuro sees this and, just as the Dark Cannon fires again, makes a mad dash towards Shinji, yelling "Get out of the way, you idiot!" He pushes the Eva pilot out of harm's way, taking the hit for him.

As Amuro falls to the ground, trophified, Marik hops down to retrieve his next victim with Shinji looking on in horror. Shinji gets up and flees, looking over his shoulder to see Marik holding his prize up, laughing evilly in the middle of a thunderstorm, which came out of nowhere.

* * *

Shinji got as far away from Marik as he could. He was now on the other side of the zoo. Shinji waddles on with his head held low until he accidentally bumps into someone. That someone was a short kid wearing a blue school uniform and sporting black spiky hair with red outlines and multi-layered blond locks on his fringe. Yeah, this guy's hairstyle is WEIRD! Anyway, he was also wearing a chain around his neck with what looked like an upside down pyramid attached to it, as well as an arm-blade looking plate strapped on his left forearm. He was Yugi Muto, the Duel Monsters Champion.

Just ahead of both of them were another mob of Mass Monsters.

"Oh no! Not these guys again!" Shinji screamed.

"You've actually seen these guys before?" Yugi asked.

Shinji nods softly, Yugi taking note of the fearful look on his face.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," Yugi assured him. "**YU-GI-OH!**"

The "upside down pyramid" emits a blinding light and vibrates wildly. When the light fades away, Yugi is suddenly much taller and more mature-looking. For some odd reason, no one notices the difference.

"It's my move now," Yami Yugi asserted. Yami takes a card from his deck and places it on his Duel Disk. "I summon Osiris, the Sky Dragon!"

"Osiris?" Shinji asked, perplexed.

"There will be **no** honoring 4Kids Executive Producers in this fanfic!" Yami dictated.

"Oh. That makes perfect sense," Shinji reasoned.

The hologram of a long, ferocious red dragon with two mouths materializes in front of Yami.

"And now, Osiris the Sky Dragon, ATTACK!" Yami commanded.

Osiris spits out a massive energy blast from its bottom mouth and incinerates the entire crowd of Masses in one shot, leaving nothing but a huge pile of ash.

"I win!" Yami declared.

The Osiris hologram fades back into nothingness as Yami walks off without saying a word. Shinji thinks about protesting, but he loses his nerve. Just then, flashes of the trophified Amuro hitting the ground and of Marik holding up the trophy in triumph rush into Shinji's mind.

"No. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away," Shinji repeated to himself.

"Hey, wait up!" Shinji called out to Yami.

* * *

A/N: And so began an unusual partnership. Will Shinji get his chance to avenge Amuro? If it does come, will Shinji be up to the task? And what will become of the famed Gundam pilot? Find out…eventually on the **Shadow Realm Emissary**!

Preview: Three swordsmen form an alliance to fight the new threat. And we get a little insight on the invader's POV. Until the next time.


	5. Battle for the Barren Castle

A/N: Sorry I've neglected this for so long. Amongst other things, I guess I've been in a post-_Avatar_ depression :(. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon.

Oh, and before I forget, I guess I should explain that Kaiba is NOT playing Metaknight in this story. Kaiba is going to be Lucario instead, which means that the scenes where they break into the Halberd will be reversed a little. The reason why I did it like this is because Kaiba was one of the only rival-to-main-character characters in anime I could think of that actually had an airship like the Halberd, and yet, I already had an awesome idea on who to use for Metaknight. I thought this character suited the role of Metaknight quite well. (Not to mention, this character can actually fly, unlike Kaiba, so he can catch Yami and Shinji when the time comes.)

* * *

**Chapter 5: Battle for the Barren Castle**

It was the middle of a wasteland. Hundreds of arrows littered the ground, as well as a catapult, indicating that a battle took place here a long time ago. The battlefield was completely deserted. Except for, of course, two super-deformed Zaku mobile suits, who insert their limbs into the sides of another Shadow Realm Bomb, activating it.

"Man, this is some bullslag!" one of the Zaku complained loudly. "Why in Primus' name do we have to fragging SCRAP OURSELVES just to activate these slagging bombs?"

"You know we don't have a choice," the other one spelled out. "Otherwise, they'll kill all of our brethren."

"And I still say we should've fought to the bitter end instead of surrendering." The first one retorted.

"And it would've been a bitter end," the second robot pointed out sadly. "We all would've been scrapped for sure if we had fought back, but this way, at least some of us will survive."

Unconvinced, the first Zaku merely lowers his head in shame as the countdown on the bomb was about to reach zero. His friend does likewise.

"Well, it was nice knowing you, comrade," the second Zaku said, bidding his farewell.

"Yeah, whatever," the first Zaku replied.

And with that, the Shadow Realm Bomb explodes, sending another piece of the world into the Shadow Realm.

Up ahead is a long-since abandoned castle. Its only current occupant was sitting on the castle's roof when he sees the spherical explosion in the distance. This occupant was a guy with long white hair and gold eyes. He was wearing a hitoe and hakama, both of which were completely red. He had no footwear and beads around his neck. Oh, and he had dog ears.

"What's that?" Inuyasha questioned as he sniffs the air. "It's the smell of mech fluid."

The half-demon spots the Mysterious Minister floating above the battlefield, summoning more Masses as he passes by. Not before long, an entire army of Mass Monsters were marching forward to the castle.

"What are those things? Some type of demon? Well, whatever they are, I don't like the looks of this," Inuyasha said to himself. He unsheathes his sword, which at first glance, looked like an old and battered katana until it transforms into a huge blade that resembled a fang; the Tetsusaiga.

Inuyasha leaps from the mansion and lands right in front of the Masses.

"**WIND SCAR!!**" Inuyasha called out. With the swing of his sword, an energy wave is sent, decimating the front lines of the army. However, there were still many left, and worse still, more Masses simply showed up to replace the ones that have fallen. Inuyasha continues to launch out attacks with the Tetsusaiga, but the Masses just kept coming.

"At this rate, I'll waste all of my demon energy before…" Inuyasha says before being interrupted by getting blasted by one of the Masses. The Cloth of the Fire Rat protected him from the blunt of the attack, but Inuyasha still suffered a massive chest wound. Inuyasha turns to the Mass Monster that shot him.

"So you wanna see my blood? Fine, then! **BLADES OF BLOOD!!**" Inuyasha grabs some of the blood from his wound and flings it, destroying a few more Masses in the process. He continues to fight off more Masses, and eventually Inuyasha manages to reach the sphere where the bomb went off.

"Ok, so what now?" Inuyasha wondered.

"**CHIDORI!!**" someone cried out.

Inuyasha barely has enough time to shield himself with the side of his sword before someone thrusts their arm, which was covered in electricity, at him lightning fast. After Inuyasha blocks the attack, his assailant jumps back, and the half-demon gets a clear look at him. He was a fifteen-year old male with dark blue hair and red eyes with three tome around his pupils. He was wearing a white jacket, blue pants, and blue cloth hanging from his waist. He was none other than the Leaf Village's prodigy ninja-turned-rogue, Sasuke Uchiha.

"Hey! What's the big idea, pal?" Inuyasha yelled.

Sasuke responds by drawing his sword and slashing at the half-demon. Inuyasha blocks with the Tetsusaiga, and the two swordsmen begin to clash.

Masses suddenly appear behind both combatants, but both turn around just in time to slice them open.

"I see your men tried to sneak up behind me," Sasuke sneered.

"What are you talking about, you idiot? These aren't my men," Inuyasha corrected angrily. "I thought they were with you since you just attacked me for no reason!"

"Well they're not with me," Sasuke simply retorted.

More Masses spawn, forming a circle around the two. Sasuke and Inuyasha come together with their backs against each other.

"Well it looks like this was all just some big misunderstanding," Inuyasha figured.

"It would seem so," Sasuke added.

"So how about we get rid of these things," Inuyasha suggested.

"Fine by me as long as you stay out of my way,"

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you,"

They both proceeded to take down more Masses. Inuyasha battered Masses away with the Tetsusaiga while Sasuke cut sliced them with an electrically charged Kusanagi sword, occasionally mixing it up with a fire-style jutsu. After clearing the way, Inuyasha spots the Minister, floating away with yet another Shadow Realm Bomb.

"Hey! I saw you right before those things appeared! This is all your doing, isn't it?" Inuyasha shouted as he gave chase.

The Mysterious Minister turns his head to face the dog demon, but doesn't respond and makes no effort to stop. In a surprise move, Inuyasha thrusts the Tetsusaiga into the ground and leaps off of its hilt.

"**IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!!**"

But, the minister weaves upward and Inuyasha's claws narrowly miss him. During this time, Sasuke transforms into his Curse Seal Level 2 form, turning his skin dark grey along with a black mark appearing on the bridge of his nose, turning his hair into a tint of blue and growing it some, and growing a huge pair of hand-like appendages on his back. Sasuke uses these hands like wings and takes flight after the minister. The Mysterious Minister fires at the Uchiha, grazing his wing and grounding him. Sasuke reverts back to his normal form.

The Mysterious Minister continues on, thinking he's in the clear. However…

"**GETSUGA TENSHO!!**"

An energy blast in the shape of a crescent moon severs the Shadow Realm Bomb from the minister's platform as well as damaging the platform itself. The Mysterious Minister flutters around haphazardly, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

The now dysfunctional and cracked bomb lands right next to the launcher of the attack; a 15-year-old male with orange hair and brown eyes, wearing black robes and a white sash. He carried with him a HUGE hilt-less sword (it was as long as its wielder was tall) with a cloth wrapped around the handle.

"Looks like you guys could use some help," Ichigo Kurosaki offered.

"As long as you don't attack ME, I'm all for it," Inuyasha nodded.

And so, the three swordsmen raise the swords, now united, and chase after the minister, who by now regained control over his platform and flees. However, the trio reaches a cliff before long and can only watch as the Mysterious Minister escapes.

"Damn it all! He got away!" Inuyasha cursed.

"Then we'll just have to find him again, now won't we?" Ichigo reassured him.

"I don't have time to be running around playing the hero like this," Sasuke bemoaned. "I still have training to do and someone to kill."

"Then just consider this a part of your training," Ichigo advised. "C'mon, this way," he motioned them to follow him.

"Hey! Who died and made YOU boss?" Inuyasha asserted.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a grassy field somewhere, a well-built but short bald man that had six dots on his forehead and no apparent nose and wearing an orange gi uniform stood in wait. It was Goku's best friend, Krillin.

"Alright. I won't let Goku do all the world-saving by himself this time. It's time to show those creeps what I'm made of," Krillin thought to himself. Right after that, he gets startled by a flock of crow flying out of a nearby tree, but soon relaxes. He makes a weak laugh and says "Look at yourself, Krillin. You're getting scared by your own shadow."

Not a moment afterwards, Krillin senses someone right behind him. He turns around and faces the stranger directly in the eyes, which was a HUGE mistake.

"**TSUKUYOMI!**" the stranger called out calmly.

One instant later, Krillin falls to the ground, trophified. His attacker, a man wearing a long dark cloak decorated with red clouds and a blue bandana with a metal plate (with the symbol on it crossed out) lifts up Krillin to admire his handiwork.

"It seems that I have now collected my first trophy," said the infamous perpetrator of the Uchiha Clan massacre, Itachi Uchiha.

(A/N: For those of you who have read the latest chapters of the Naruto manga, I'm sure you can figure out why I did this.)

Itachi hears a noise coming from just over the horizon. Something is approaching.

"And not a moment too soon to set up my trap," Itachi continued. He disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving the trophy behind.

* * *

Marik was smiling gleefully while driving by on his own Cargo, with the two trophies of Chi-Chi and Amuro secured in the back. Something catches Marik's eye and he stops the vehicle and gets out.

"What's this? Another trophy? And it's just out in the open for the taking," Marik gloated as he picks up the Krillin trophy. "This is getting too easy!"

"You're right. This _was_ too easy!" Marik heard someone say. He turns to the Cargo to see Itachi in the driver's seat, already beginning to take off with the three trophies. Yes, including Krillin's trophy.

"What!?" Marik realized. "How can that trophy be there when I'm holding it right here?"

The trophy that Marik thought he had vanishes in a puff of smoke, and another Itachi takes its place.

"What!? A Shadow Clone?! NO! This can't be!" Marik panicked.

But Itachi had already taken off with the Cargo. Marik is hopping mad, needless to say.

"You'll pay for this, Itachi Uchiha!" Marik threatened.

* * *

A/N: What a turnaround! What will Itachi do with his newly acquired trophies? As of like you guys don't know. Anyway, stay frosty.

Preview: In the next chapter, Naruto finally makes his appearance, and, defying all stereotypes, ninja and pirate must work together. A certain moon princess will also be making a debut. All of this on the next chapter of the **Shadow Realm Emissary**!


	6. The Search for the Brooch

Chapter 6: The Search for the Brooch

A/N: I'm going to stop making promises I can't keep. :(

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Search for the Brooch**

Deep in a secluded forest somewhere stands a teenage boy with blonde spiky hair and blue eyes, wearing an orange and black jacket, orange pants, sandals, and a black bandana with a metal plate on the front. He was Naruto Uzumaki, the Leaf Village's number one loudest, unpredictable, hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja.

"Yes!" Naruto cracked his knuckles. "With this invasion going on, it looks like we need a hero…like me!" he grinned confidently.

Naruto leaps high into the branches of the nearest trees and made his way through the forest, leaping from branch to branch. Along the way, he sees someone sleeping on a tree stump nearby. It was a 17-year-old with short black hair wearing short trousers that only went down to his knees, sandals, a red vest, and his trademark straw hat.

"Hey, it's Luffy," Naruto observed.

Naruto leaps back to the ground and approaches the pirate. When he gets close, he yells at the top of his lungs, "LUFFY! YOU STILL OWE ME FOR THAT RAMEN YOU STOLE FROM ME IN BATTLE STADIUM D.O.N!"

Luffy stirs and wakes up. "Is it dinner time yet, Sanji?" Luffy says groggily.

"No, it's time to pay up! Believe it!" Naruto demanded.

Before he can say anything more, a huge shadow covers the entire forest, alerting both of them. They look to the sky and see the Kaiba Craft 3 dropping down more Masses.

"It's those same bastards that attacked that stadium!" Naruto growled.

"Geez, can't a guy take a nap in peace anymore?" Luffy yawned, finally getting up.

Naruto readies a hand sign as the Masses come together and form humanoid shapes.

"**SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!!**"

A massive army of Narutos appeared, evening out the playing field. Each Naruto pulls out a kunai and rushes at the Masses, tearing them down. The stragglers were taken out by Luffy's Gum Gum Gatling Gun attack.

The two heroes plow through the forest, clearing it out of the Masses. When they reach the edge of the forest, they see the Kaiba Craft flying off in the distance.

"Hey, come back here!" they both yelled in unison, taking off after the ship.

* * *

Little did they (or anyone else for that matter) know that there was a stowaway on the ship, hiding in a box and bidding their time until they receive orders to make a move. Of course, we're unable to tell who's under the box…yet. The box moves slightly.

* * *

Meanwhile, a research facility in the middle of a floating island was also being infiltrated. In an empty room, a tile on the ceiling is kicked down and a teenage girl descends down into the room. The girl had blue eyes and blonde hair with two long ponytails that hung from two spherical buns and outfitted in a Japanese school uniform.

"Okay, Luna said it should be in here somewhere," Usagi Tsukino said to herself.

She takes a quick glance outside the door to find the hallways filled with Zaku guards.

"So how am I going to get past all of these robots?" Usagi wondered.

An idea had suddenly come to her. "That's it!" she declared as she pulls out a pen.

"**DISGUISE POWER!! TRANSFORM ME INTO A ZAKU MOBILE SUIT!!**" the teenager commanded the magical disguise pen. After a flash of light, Usagi reappeared in what looked like a bad cosplay outfit.

"Now I should have no problems blending in," she thought to herself. She steps out into the hallway, casually walks up to the two nearest Zaku and greets them with a "Hello".

"Putting on a little weight there, aren't you, Sailor Moon?" one of the Zaku jokes before opening fire on their intruder.

Usagi runs away in fear, skillfully (if you can call it that) dodging the attacks. The two Zaku chase her down the hall until she enters another room, evading her pursuers for the time being.

"Well that didn't help," she stated the obvious, taking off her bad disguise.

It was at that point when a green light emitting from the room catches her attention. She turns around and sees what looked like some kind of energy generator…and someone locked inside being used as a power source! This someone was a purple-haired humanoid in a strange purple getup and wielding a staff-like wand. It was Yugi's favorite Duel Monster, the Dark Magician.

"What kind of monster would do something like this?" gasped Usagi, horrified. She hastily switches off the power switch, turning off the machine and releasing the Dark Magician. The Duel Monster stumbles onto the floor and Usagi helps him stand up while the alarms go off.

"Thank you for saving me," thanked the Dark Magician.

"Don't mention it," Usagi replied.

"But one thing puzzles me. Not that I am ungrateful, but what is a girl like you doing in a place like this?" inquired the Dark Magician.

"Well, those creepozoid robots broke into my house and stole my brooch," Usagi answered. "And let's just say I really, really, really need it!" she tried to explain without revealing too much about her identity.

"Then I shall assist you in recovering your lost possession," the Duel Monster decided.

Just then, the door flies open and a mob of Zaku pour into the room.

"Surrender or die!" one of the Zaku ordered, readying his gun.

"NOOO!! DON'T SHOOT!!" Usagi cried in terror.

"Relax, young one, I'll protect you," the Dark Magician said calmly as he points his wand at the mobile suits.

"**DARK MAGIC ATTACK!!**"

The wand fires a purple orb of energy and blasts all of the Zaku to bits.

"WHOA! That's some serious firepower!" Usagi said, impressed.

"Stay alert," the Duel Monster advised. "We must move quickly if we are to find your brooch."

And so the two heroes run down the hallway, searching the complex. Of course, they run into more opposition, but the Dark Magician takes care of it. Soon, the pair find themselves in another room, this one filled with monitors showing other locations in the building.

"Huh? What is this place? The Architect's room in The Matrix?" Usagi pondered.

"This is clearly the security room," the Dark Magician informed her. "By looking through these monitors, we should be able to see…"

"THERE IT IS! MY BROOCH!" Usagi pointed at a screen visualizing a brooch locked in a glass case.

"But where exactly _is_ it?" she sighed.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know this one's pretty short, but the next will definitely be longer, possibly the longest chapter yet. Next time, prepare for a battle of epic misunderstandings between Shonen Jump heroes. Until the next time.


	7. Naruto's Misunderstanding

**Chapter 7: Naruto's Misunderstanding**

Kenshin and Sakura walk along a lake shore, with Sakura traveling just a few inches away from the water. She has a dispirited look on her face.

"Is something wrong, Miss Sakura?" Kenshin asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just wondering, with all of these attacks going on, if the Leaf Village is okay," Sakura confided.

"Do not worry yourself over it," Kenshin reassured her. "The Leaf Village is full of strong warriors with a great love for their home. They won't let our enemies send their village to the Shadow Realm, that they will not."

Sakura manages a smile, cheered up a little. "Yeah, you're right."

And without warning, Sakura is snatched from where she was standing by Frieza riding on a boat passing by on the lake.

"Jin-e, eat your heart out!" Frieza laughed as he floated away on the river's current. Kenshin could do nothing but stand at the shore and watch angrily as the two drift away.

"FRIEZA!!" Kenshin yelled out.

(A/N: Yeah, I decided to completely change this scene. I just couldn't figure out how I could make Kenshin, while acting in-character, just run off like Kirby and leave his own ally behind. So instead, I used that AWESOME scene at the end of Episode 6 of Rurouni Kenshin. :))

* * *

A few minutes later, Naruto and Luffy were running by on a dirt road, neither of them noticing Sakura, or rather, a figure that looked like Sakura, watching them. She had in her hands a Dark Cannon, and she takes aim at the duo. The Dark Cannon charged up and was just about to fire until…

"**SPIRIT GUN!!**"

…a shot of blue spiritual energy hits the Dark Cannon on the side, causing it to split in half and explode.

The Sakura figure turns to see Yusuke with his index finger extended out and smoking. Goku catches up with the spirit detective.

"Hey, what's going on…oh," Goku finished as he saw the evil glare the fake Sakura was giving them.

"So, can you sense it too?" Yusuke asked the Saiyan.

"Yeah," Goku nodded. "That's not the real Sakura."

They both get into battle stances as the fake Sakura fires a blast from her palm. They move faster than the eye can see and dodge the attack. Yusuke reappears behind her, but she turns around and backhands him in the cheek, sending him flying to a nearby tree.

"That's gonna leave a mark," Yusuke deadpanned, rubbing his cheek.

Goku comes flying at her, but she blasts him away as he got close. However, this provided Yusuke the opportunity to roundhouse kick the fake in the face. He continued his barrage, punching her with lightning fast punches and finishing the combo with an uppercut, knocking her to the ground.

Right as she gets up, Goku reappears right in front of her and delivers a devastating blow to the gut. The fake Sakura staggers backward a couple of steps before falling back, trophifying on the way down.

"Well, that takes care of that," Goku declared, dusting off his hands in satisfaction.

Meanwhile at the dirt road…

"Wait a minute, Luffy, I think I hear something," Naruto stated as he slid to a halt. He looks over and sees the others with the Sakura trophy. "Hey, it's Sakura! She's oka…". He stops, wide-eyed in disbelief as he sees the Sakura trophy dissolve.

"S-Sakura? No!" He then fixates on Sakura's "murderer". "**YOU!!"**

An infuriated Naruto speeds toward the Saiyan. Goku notices him just in time to see him jump high into the air, ready to come down on him.

"**RASENGAN!!**"

Goku quickly gets out of the way before Naruto could strike him, leaving a crater where Goku once stood.

"Naruto, what're you doing!?" Goku exclaimed.

"I'll never forgive you!" Naruto spat as red bubbling chakra began covering his body.

"How could you bastards kill Naruto's nakama like that!?" Luffy called out, catching up with Naruto.

"Hey! Wait, a minute guys, if you just let us explain…" Goku started.

"We don't wanna hear your excuses!" Naruto and Luffy both yelled in unison.

By this time, Naruto was fully covered in a red chakra shield shaped like a fox, including long fox ears. A single tail begins to sprout from the chakra shield. In addition, Naruto's eyes turned red and slitted, his nails and teeth grew and sharpened, and his whiskers became more feral. Naruto gets down on all fours.

"Hold on, guys! There's no need to go Kyuubi on us!" Yusuke pleaded.

"**GEAR SECOND!!**"

There attention turns to Luffy, who pumps air into his legs. Afterwards, his skin turns pink and shiny, and his sweat begins to vaporize, giving a steam-like appearance. Luffy makes a fist and puts one hand to the ground in front of him while putting the other hand on his knee.

"Well if THAT'S how you guys are going to play…" Goku said before powering up. His hair turns gold and sticks upward while his eyes turn green, becoming a Super Saiyan.

"Well if everyone else is gonna transform, I guess I should join the party too," Yusuke chuckled before powering up himself. His hair grows to waist-length and his body becomes covered with the marks of the Mazoku.

Luffy and Naruto both stretch an arm (or an Naruto's case, a chakra arm) at their opponents, but they both jump backwards, avoiding their reach. Naruto leaps after Goku and Luffy goes after Yusuke.

Naruto swipes his claws ferociously at Goku, but he continuously dodges each swing.

"Listen Naruto, this is all just a big misunder…"

And Naruto throws a jab at Goku, but it blocks with his hand. Goku then howls out in pain as the chakra surrounding Naruto's body burns his hand.

"Yowch!" Goku yelled, jumping back and taking to the air. "Oh man. As long as that chakra's surrounding him, I can't even get near him. Well, at least I'm safe up here".

As if tempting fate, the nine-tails' chakra reaches out and grabs Goku in the air and pulls him towards Naruto, where he delivers an overwhelming punch and sends him flying to a far away rock.

Luffy and Yusuke, meanwhile, a trading blow for blow in a supersonic fistfight. Yusuke manages to punch Luffy backward a few feet, but it is only then when he notices that Luffy's rubber body was easily absorbing his attacks.

"Listen, you dumbass! That was fake Sakura we killed!" Yusuke once again tried to reason.

"You're not going to get away with this! I'm going to kick your ass!" Luffy obviously not hearing a word Yusuke said. "**GUM GUM JET PISTOL!!**"

The punch knocks Yusuke down and back at least fifty feet. Yusuke tries to stand up, only to get hit by another sound-barrier breaking punch. Luffy continues this barrage of attacks until Yusuke's had enough.

"THAT'S IT!! NO MORE MR. NICE SPIRIT DETECTIVE!!" Yusuke declared, getting back on his feet and taking aim.

Luffy stretches his arms far back, preparing for his…

"**GUM GUM JET BAZOO…**"

"**SPIRIT GUN!!**"

Yusuke blasts Luffy with a very huge concentration of spiritual energy, pushing him back and forcing him to travel along its path.

As for Goku, he rises up and cups his hands to the side, gathering his ki.

"**KAMEHAME…**"

Naruto emits a wave of chakra and directs it towards Goku, but he teleports right before it hits him. Goku then suddenly reappears right in front of Naruto.

"…**HA!!**"

Naruto gets blown back by the stream of energy. The Kamehameha and the Spirit Gun, along with Naruto and Luffy, collide and explode in a grand fanfare. When the smoke clears, Naruto and Luffy lay on the ground as trophies.

Relieved, Goku and Yusuke both revert back to their normal forms. "Glad that's over," Goku panted.

"So, if we revive them, do you think they'll listen this time, or will we have to go for Round 2?" Yusuke asked the Saiyan.

Before he can answer, something comes out of the nearby bushes. It was Itachi driving the Cargo he stole from Marik. He passes in front of the two fighters, and Goku spots a familiar trophy in the vehicle.

"Chi-Chi!" he gasped.

"I think I saw Krillin on there too," Yusuke added.

"And Krillin too," Goku revised.

Itachi u-turns and grabs Naruto and Luffy with the mechanical arm attached to the Cargo.

"Hey! Come back here!" Yusuke shouted.

"It seems I have secured two more trophies. And one of them is the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki. I must thank you for doing Akatsuki's work for us," Itachi commended.

"You're not even worth looking _down_ upon," said a voice.

Itachi turns his head and sees Kenshin standing on top of the mechanical arm. Then, something extremely rare happens; Itachi actually gasps in surprise! He didn't sense Kenshin AT ALL until he spoke.

"**HITEN MITSURUGI STYLE: RYU TSUI SEN!!**"

Kenshin smashes the mechanical arm with his reverse-blade sword, releasing the two trophies. The wandering samurai jumps into action and revives both characters in mid-air. They all land on their feet just as Itachi u-turns again and heads straight for them.

"You're not getting away this time, Itachi!" Naruto bellowed. He throws a kunai at the Cargo just as it passes by again. A few seconds later, the Cargo breaks down.

"We must hasten if we're going to catch up with him," Kenshin informed them all.

And the five heroes, now uniting, collectively run after the slowing vehicle. They finally catch up to it at the entrance to a cave. The Cargo is abandoned, with no driver or trophy in sight.

"Well, I can definitely sense that Itachi went inside this cave," Goku told the others.

"And no doubt, they'll be a welcoming committee waiting for us inside," Yusuke reasoned.

"So what are we waiting for!?" Naruto yelled impatiently. "I'll kick anyone's ass who tries to get in my way! And then I'll beat Itachi down until he tells me where Sasuke is!"

With that, the heroes entered the cave. They run into some opposition, as well as a couple of traps and some pools of water (which they helped Luffy cross), but it was nothing they couldn't handle. Just when it seemed to them that the cave would never end, they reach the other side, and noticed a strange castle in the horizon.

"Well, that must be where Itachi is hiding," Kenshin guessed.

"So what do you guys think he's planning with the whole 'Grand Theft Trophy' thing going on?" Yusuke asked his allies.

"Only one way to find out," Goku determined, advancing towards the castle. The others follow suit.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a dark room full of monitors, a mysterious figure, a handsome, college-aged guy with brown hair and reddish-brown eyes and wearing fairly formal clothes, along with a monstrous-looking winged creature standing over his shoulders, stood next to the screen in front of them until the static is replaced by an image of Frieza.

"What do you want now, human?" Frieza asked, obviously annoyed.

"It seems someone stole all of trophies Marik collected," the figure imparted.

"Ha! That fool! I knew he would mess things up somehow!" Frieza complained.

"Anyway, I need you and your minions to go and recollect the trophies that were stolen," the figure ordered. "I'm sending the coordinates to your scouter now."

"And why can't you take care of it from there?" the galactic overlord protested.

"Because I don't know what that guy's name is," the figure explained.

The winged creature behind him laughs, amused. "You know, it's never too late to make the deal," he offered.

"No thanks," the figure declined. "And besides," he directed at Frieza, "someone's going have to bring those trophies back here anyway, and since you're not far from where he is right now…"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" Frieza reluctantly agreed. Frieza walks away with his henchmen in tow as the figure ends the transmission. He then smiles evilly.

"Fool! I will soon become the GOD of a new world!" Light Yagami declared to himself as Ryuk cackles from being kept entertained.

* * *

A/N: What a twist! Now Itachi has both the heroes and the villains on his trail. What will happen in the confrontation at Itachi's hideout? Find out this and more on the next chapter of the **Shadow Realm Emissary**!


	8. Rematch

**Chapter 8: Rematch**

In a desert, a large mechanical golden dragon flies to the base of a thin mountain with a ring of clouds surrounding its peak. Shinji and Yami, who happened to be standing at the edge of a nearby cliff, take notice of this.

"Whoa, what was that?" Shinji gasped.

"The Winged Dragon of Ra, one of the three Egyptian God Cards," Yami explained. "I acquired all three Egyptian Gods after the events of the Battle City tournament, but now they have been stolen from me…again." Yami pulls out photos of Ra and Obelisk the Tormentor. "I recovered Osiris before running into you, and now I may have a chance of getting the Winged Dragon of Ra back as well."

"But what about Amuro? Aren't we going to rescue him?" Shinji asked.

"We will, Shinji, but I fear that my deck as it is now will be insufficient in stopping our new enemies. This is why I must retrieve all three Egyptian God Cards first," Yami justified.

Shinji nods and goes along with it. "Okay, I'll do my best to help you get your cards back," Shinji promised.

And so, the two heroes head for the base of the mountain. They get there to find the entrance to an ancient temple.

"These ruins make me feel like I'm back at ancient Egypt," Yami observed. "The Winged Dragon of Ra must be inside."

"So, we meet again, pharaoh!"

Yami and Shinji look up to see Marik standing on top of a pillar. He jumps down and lands right in front of the two heroes.

"Marik! I should've known you'd be involved in this!" Yami spat.

"That's right!" Marik grinned. "And it looks like I'll be able to get back at you for defeating me last time, pharaoh!"

Marik sticks his tongue out gleefully. Memories of Marik holding up Amuro flash in Shinji's mind. Shinji clenches his fist tightly.

"It's you!" Shinji said angrily, pulling out and aiming his pallet gun. Yami, likewise, holds up a Duel Monster card, ready to summon. "Where's Amuro!?" Shinji demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Marik taunted. "But what exactly are YOU going to do if I don't tell you? Run home and cry to your mommy? Oh, wait, I forgot! You don't have a mommy! Well, sort of."

Marik laughs at his own mocking, but Shinji's had enough. He pulls out a progression knife and lunges at the maniacal Egyptian. However, Marik easily dodges his attack and kicks him down as he passes by.

"My, my, struck a nerve, didn't I?" Marik continued sarcastically. "Well I'll strike more than that with this." He pulls out his Millennium Rod and shoots Shinji with an energy blast.

As Marik continues his fight with Shinji, Yami stands idly by, doing nothing. Inside his mind, the little Yugi protests. "Aren't we going to help him?" Yugi argues. "No, this is something Shinji must do on his own. It is the only way he'll learn to gain confidence in himself," Yami assured his other half.

But Marik was still toying around with the Eva pilot, smiling blissfully the whole time. "You are weak, Shinji. But then again, we ALL knew that already!" he insulted. "Why don't you just let the grown-ups handle this and you can just go back to feeling sorry for yourself while jerking off on comatose girls and fetishizing a clone of your own mother! You motherfu…"

Marik is cut off by the sharp pain in his gut after getting impaled by a sword. The Magarok E sword, to be precise. The Rare Hunter leader howls in pain as Shinji pulls his sword back, splattering blood across the ground. But Shinji wasn't done with Marik yet.

"**UNISON KICK!!**"

Shinji leaps high into the air above Marik and drops a pole on top of him. Marik is still stunned as Shinji lands and shoots the villain with a barrage of bullets from his pallet gun. Afterwards, Shinji does several backflips to distance himself and then continues the assault by blasting Marik several more times, this time with his positron rifle. Shinji yells out a battle cry as he runs up to Marik, uppercuts him and ax kicks him away. Shinji finishes the bombardment by jumping in the air with his leg extended, kicking Marik in the face and dragging him across the ground and into a wall, causing a MASSIVE explosion. The force of the explosion blows back a trophified Marik, as well as Shinji, who lands gracefully on his feet next to Yami.

"Now THAT'S overkill!" is the only thing Yami can say.

"Actually, that attack was only _half_ as strong as it should be since I'm suppose to use it together with Asuka," Shinji informed him.

"Well, either way, well done, Shinji," Yami congratulated.

Shinji and Yami high-five each other, but Shinji suddenly realizes that Amuro is nowhere to be found. He scans the area, but finds nothing.

"But…where's Amuro?" Shinji asked sadly, lowering his head.

Yami places a hand on Shinji's shoulder, comforting him. "Do not worry yourself. I am sure we will find your friend before our adventure is over," Yami reassured him.

They both hear a grumbling sound echoing out the entrance of the temple.

"But for now," Yami stated as he turns to face the temple, "I must reclaim the Winged Dragon of Ra."

Shinji nods in agreement and they both venture into the temple.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Itachi's hideout, Itachi dusts off Amuro, Krillin, and Chi-Chi, all of whom he has lined up in a row.

"Alright. Everything is going according to plan," Itachi told himself. "Now it's time to get down to business."

He pulls out two brooches, both shaped like the Uchiha clan insignia, and places one on Amuro's chest and the other on Krillin's forehead.

"Wait a minute, where's the other one I made?" Itachi fretted as he searches himself frantically. He finally looks down at the Uchiha Brooch that he was wearing himself.

"I guess I'll have to use the one I intended for myself," Itachi said as he took off his Uchiha Brooch and placed it on Chi-Chi.

"It's only a minor setback. I'll just make another one later, and after that…"

Itachi is interrupted by a sudden earthquake. He looks up and sees the ceiling caving in on him. A large piece of the ceiling lands right on top of Itachi's head, knocking him unconscious. The three trophies get buried in the rubble.

Frieza, followed by his henchmen, jump down into the wrecked room from the roof.

"What the hell? Itachi should've been able to dodge that debris easily," one of Frieza's soldiers pointed out.

"Who cares?" Frieza retorted. "Let's just find those trophies and get out of here."

Frieza examined his surroundings until something caught his eye.

"Wait, is that who I think it is?" Frieza blurted, seeing Chi-Chi laying face down under the wreckage.

"Perfect," Frieza smiled evilly.

* * *

Just moments later, Goku's group breaks into the wrecked room, only to find it empty.

"Whoa! What happened in here!?" Luffy exclaimed.

"It looks like somebody brought down the house _literally_!" Yusuke joked.

"I don't know what's going on here, but I don't see Chi-Chi or any of the other trophies anywhere," Goku observed.

"Damn! Itachi got away again!" Naruto cursed.

"Not necessarily," Kenshin said as he pointed to a hole in the wall. "That must've been where Itachi made his escape."

"So we better get moving then," Goku told the others.

The five heroes entered the hole and found themselves in another cave. They once again trek trough it until they reach the other side. Once there, the group sees Frieza making his way towards the edge of a cliff.

"You won't be getting away from me, Frieza! **KAIO-KEN!!**" Goku shouted.

With a red aura surrounding him, Goku speeds towards Frieza and raises his fist, ready to pound the tyrant. However, Frieza holds up the Chi-Chi trophy, using her as a shield. Goku redirects his attack at the last second and hits the dirt.

"Ha! You're not so tough now that I have your wife as a hostage, now are you, you no-good Saiyan monkey!" Frieza taunted.

"That's just low, Frieza! Even for you!" Goku gritted as he jumped back and rejoined the other heroes.

"Where's Sakura!?" Naruto demanded.

"I suppose I'll humor you," Frieza decided. "Your little girlfriend is being held as our prisoner, and soon, the wife of the monkey will join her."

"Not if I have anything to say about it! **SPIRIT GUN!!**" Yusuke interjected.

Yusuke shoots out a bullet of spirit energy, but Frieza sidesteps and dodges, only to tumble and fall off the edge of the cliff. Unknown to Yusuke, however, was that the Uchiha Brooch on Chi-Chi flies off her and hits the ground.

Frieza slowly rises back up, manipulating his ki in order to fly. "Well, I'll be going now. Oh, and one more thing," he specifically directed towards Goku. "If you try to follow me, I will break her in two," he threatened as he flew away towards the Kaiba Craft.

Goku clenches his fist in anger. He couldn't take the chance of Frieza not bluffing. "You won't get away with this, Frieza!" he growled.

"Don't worry, Goku. We'll get your wife back. I guarantee it!" Naruto encouraged.

"Yeah! Let's go kick some alien tail!" Luffy added, cracking his knuckles.

With that, the group of heroes left the scene, except for Kenshin, who was fixated on the brooch that fell off of Chi-Chi.

"Hmmm," Kenshin pondered before hiding the brooch in his sleeve and running off to catch up with the others.

* * *

Not long after the heroes left, two Zaku set up and activate a Shadow Realm Bomb in front of Itachi's hideout. The Mysterious Minister was there, overseeing them.

"So, are you guys ready to do this?" the Mysterious Minister finally spoke.

"Y-yeah. We think so," one of the Zaku answered nervously. "At least we got all of our affairs taken care of, anyway."

"You know, I'm really sorry about this," the minister apologized.

"No, you don't have to say anything," the other Zaku said sadly. "But just promise us one thing."

"Anything," replied the Mysterious Minister.

"Be sure to tell those tykes that we built that we love them," both Zaku said together.

With that, the Mysterious Minister slowly floats away as the timer on the bomb reaches close to zero. The two Zaku nod to themselves just before the Shadow Realm bomb explodes, destroying the Zaku couple and sending Itachi's lair (along with everyone inside) into the Shadow Realm.

* * *

Back at Light, he receives an incoming transmission. The static image on the monitor screen changes, revealing the one who brought him, Frieza, and Marik together to lead the offensive on the world, as well as the _CREATOR_ of the anime world of trophies; a teenage girl with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a high school uniform, a red armband, and a yellow hair ribbon wrapped around her head.

"Everything's going according to plan, right?" Haruhi Suzumiya asked sternly.

"That's right," Light reported. "So far, three parts of the world have been sent to the Shadow Realm."

"What!? Only three!?" Damn, what's taking those mobile suits so long?" Haruhi whined impatiently.

"Well, we have been running into a lot of opposition," Light tried to explain. "I've also lost all communications with Marik awhile ago, so I can only assume that he's been taken out."

Haruhi lets out a grunt in frustration. "Do I have to do _everything_ around here?" she complained loudly. An idea then hits her. "You know what? Tell those mobile suits to gather a bunch of Shadow Realm Bombs in one place and set them all off at once!" she commanded in an enthusiastic but still loud tone.

"So, I assume this means you're planning on using _that_?" Light guessed.

"That's right!" Haruhi cheered while giving him a thumbs up.

"So, any ideas on how exactly we're going to accomplish this?" Light suggested.

"How should I know? You're the magnificent bastard chessmaster around here! YOU figure it out!" she shrugged.

"As you wish," Light assured her, bowing down to the S.O.S. Brigade leader.

"And if you mess this up, it'll be the death penalty!" Haruhi threatened Light while giving him the pointer finger.

But what Haruhi couldn't see, due to Light's bowed head, was Light giving off his signature evil smile.

"Just you wait, Haruhi Suzumiya. Once my plan is complete, you'll be watching from the other side as I show how a TRUE God rules the world!" Light thought to himself.

* * *

A/N: Whoo. Took a lot longer to write this than I expected. Anyway, Yami and Shinji continue their quest to retrieve the remaining Eqyptian God Cards, next time on the **Shadow Realm Emissary**!


	9. The Wilds

A/N: Sorry that it took so long for me to update. To tell you the truth, I sort of want to skip to the part with Olimar's and Captain Falcon's entrance scene, but I digress. Anyway, back to the show!

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Wilds**

Yami and Shinji were now deep within the temple they discovered. They ran into plenty of enemies, but they made short work of them. Now, they were walking down a well-lit hallway.

"Hey! Isn't that…" Shinji pointed straight ahead of them.

Down the hall was the trophy of a blue, muscular humanoid Duel Monster with spiky shoulders and horns on its head.

"Why, yes! It's Obelisk the Tormentor!" Yami noticed. He pulls out an empty card from his deck and raises it high into the air. The eye of the Millennium Puzzle fires a beam of light, hitting Obelisk and sending him into the blank card. Shinji looks on in amazement.

"I used the power of the Millennium Puzzle to send Obelisk back inside his card," Yami needlessly explained.

"Well that was easy. We weren't even _looking_ for him, and he was just right there for the taking," Shinji pointed out. "At this rate, re-capturing The Winged Dragon of Ra should be a cinch."

* * *

"I knew I shouldn't have opened my big mouth," Shinji retracted just before getting blasted.

After trekking further into the temple, Yami and Shinji managed to locate the Winged Dragon of Ra. Unfortunately for them, Ra wasn't trophified like Obelisk, and was in fact roaring and rampaging around.

Yami places a card on his Duel Disk. "I summon Obelisk the Tormentor!" he commanded. A hologram of the Egyptian God materializes in front of Yami. "Go! Fist of Fate!" he ordered.

Gathering all of his power into his fist, Obelisk punches Ra with a mighty blow, knocking it into a nearby wall. Ra then collapses onto the ground.

"Wow! You did it!" Shinji cheered.

Tempting fate once again, Ra immediately rises back up, now angrier than ever. So blinded by anger, in fact, they it didn't notice Yami holding up another blank card. Ra turns into a blaze of fire, activating its Phoenix mode, but before it could retaliate against Obelisk, Ra is hit by a beam of light from the Millennium Puzzle, and it too was sent inside the blank card.

Yami sighs in relief.

"So, did you beat it _for real_ this time?" Shinji asked him.

"Yes, Shinji," Yami answered. "I've finally recovered the three Egyptian God Cards."

"Good. Let's hurry up and get out of here," Shinji suggested.

And so, the duo continues through the temple, hoping to find an exit.

* * *

Meanwhile in a desert, something was flying close to the ground at high speed. It looked like a red aircraft that was shaped like a two-headed dragon. Sasuke, Inuyasha, and Ichigo, standing on top of a cliff, take notice of the strange object.

"What the hell is that?" Inuyasha yelled out loud.

"I'm having a bad feeling about this," Sasuke cautioned. "It's probably a weapon from our enemies. Just in case, we better come up with a…"

"LET'S GET 'EM!" Inuyasha and Ichigo said in unison before jumping off the cliff and going after the mechanical beast.

"…plan." Sasuke finished. He sighs and jumps after them. "Why did I team up with a couple of Narutos?"

The trio gives chase with the strange object. They only catch up to it after the machine makes a sudden halt. They gather in front of it to block its path. To their surprise, the machine begins to transform. When it was done, they could finally tell that the machine was actually a red and black humanoid robot with mechanical wings on its back and sporting a shield with a whip-like weapon attached to it on its left arm.

"What the?! It's a mobile suit," Sasuke realized.

"IT'S A GUNDAM!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"And not just any Gundam either. It's the EPYON!" Ichigo added.

"We have to destroy it!" Sasuke declared.

The Epyon takes out its beam saber and slashes at the swordsmen, but they leap backwards and avoid the attack. Sasuke retaliates by shooting a Chidori from his hands. The electricity hits the Gundam dead-on, but Epyon isn't fazed one bit.

"Well try this on for size! "**GETSUGA TENSHO!!**" Ichigo dared.

"**WIND SCAR!!**" Inuyasha followed suit.

Both attacks hit their mark, but they barely dent the Epyon.

"What the hell is with this thing?" Inuyasha complained.

"It's that Gundanium Alloy! We can't breach its defenses!" Ichigo figured.

The Epyon superheats its whip and swings at them. Sasuke and Ichigo dodge, but Inuyasha isn't so lucky.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"

"Inuyasha!" Ichigo called out.

The half-demon, in addition of being on fire, is knocked back several yards.

"So you like playing with fire? Then try _this_ on for size!" Sasuke yelled while making hand signs. "**FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!!**"

Sasuke exhales a huge stream of fire from his mouth that's large and intense enough to incinerate everything in front of him. As the fire burned, there was no sign of Epyon anywhere. Sasuke sighs in relief just as Inuyasha gets up and reunites with them.

"Are you okay?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah," Inuyasha assured him. "I would've been toast if it wasn't for this Cloth of the Fire-Rat," he indicated his garments.

While their guards were down, the three combatants were suddenly struck by a beam saber, charring them badly. They struggle back up to see Epyon slowly walking out of the fire, undamaged.

"Alright, that's it! **BANKAI!!**" Ichigo declared.

Ichigo's outfit completely changes into an ankle-length black coat and his Zanpakuto shrinks down and changes shape into a black-bladed daito with a short chain on the hilt.

Epyon attempts to stomp the soul-reaper, but Ichigo moves out of the way with incredible speed. Ichigo goes on the offensive and slashes the Gundam several times, moving faster than the eye can see. Epyon is unable to read Ichigo's movements, and slowly but steadily, damage begins to accumulate.

"Alright! My turn now!" Inuyasha announced. "**ADAMANT BARRAGE!!**"

The blade of Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga turns into fragmented diamonds, and with a swing of his sword, launches many diamond shards that pierce through the Epyon. It falls down on one knee, heavily damaged but still functional.

"Damn! What does it take to destroy this guy?" Inuyasha bemoaned.

Sasuke surveys the still burning environment. He then looks up at the sky, making sure that it was a cloudy day. He shrugs, reasoning that he may as well take advantage of his surroundings.

"Well, I must say that I'm impressed, Epyon," Sasuke admitted. "And you should feel honored. It looks like I'm going to have to use _that_ jutsu. The one I was saving just for _him_."

Sasuke makes a few hand signs and raises his hand.

"**KIRIN!!**"

The Uchiha draws lightning from the clouds in the sky and guides it downward, the lightning taking the form of a strange hoofed creature. The lightning hits Epyon fast and hard, blasting it clear off of a nearby cliff.

Epyon, coincidently, lands right in front of the temple Yami and Shinji entered, missing Marik in trophy form by mere inches. However, the ground wasn't enough to support the weight of the mobile suit, giving way under it. Epyon was powerless to do anything as it fell underground.

Sasuke, Ichigo, and Inuyasha rush to the edge of the cliff to look at the hole created by the Epyon's fall.

"HA! Take that, you bucket of bolts!" Inuyasha insulted.

"I just hope no one was down there," Ichigo said, concerned.

And of course, Ichigo's concerns are valid.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yami and Shinji finally reach the end of the temple and find themselves in a large arena-like area.

"What is this place?" Shinji asked, looking around.

"I don't think I want to know," Yami answered. "But there's no other way to go from here, except maybe up," he observed.

"Great, so how are we supposed to get all the way up there?" Shinji complained.

As if his prayers, or rather nightmares, were answered, the ceiling of the room they were in collapses, letting in light from above.

"What the!?" Shinji raised his head upward.

"Something's falling down here. Something BIG!" Yami warned him.

The Epyon crashes down in front of the two heroes, knocking them down on their butts.

"It's…the Epyon!?" Shinji noticed as the dust cleared.

"OH NO!" Yami gasped.

The Epyon glares at them with its cold, menacing eyes. It doesn't look very pleased either. Shinji prepares himself by pulling out a positron rifle from hammerspace. Yami summons the Winged Dragon of Ra.

Shinji begins the battle by taking aim with the positron rifle. "Position target in center, pull the switch," Shinji chants to himself before firing. The Epyon is blown back and flinches slightly, but the attack annoys it more than anything. It takes its whip and tries to drop it on Shinji, but Ra gets in front of him, taking the hit. The whip wraps tightly around the God Card and Epyon heats it up. However, Ra is able to withstand the heat.

"It appears that the Winged Dragon of Ra _likes_ it hot," Yami smirked. "But how do _you_ like it, Epyon? At the cost of 1000 of my Life Points, I activate Ra's special ability!"

On that command, Ra bursts into flames, becoming a phoenix. The Duel Monster squirmed out of the Epyon's hold and launches a ring of fire into the mobile suit before turning back into its original form.

"What!? Ra's phoenix mode is supposed to destroy all monsters instantly!" the pharaoh thought out loud. "Oh well." He places two more cards on his Duel Disk. "I now summon both Osiris the Sky Dragon and Obelisk the Tormentor! For my next move, I COMBINE all three Egyptian Gods to form…"

All three Egyptian God Monsters come together and fuse, resulting in a blue skinned humanoid with golden wings and wearing gold armor.

"…The Creator God of Light, Horakhty!"

"**DJESERU!!**" Horakhty cried out.

Horakhty gathers a ball of blinding light in between its outstretched hands. The light spreads, consuming Epyon entirely. The mobile suit can do nothing as it continuously cracks until it overloads and shuts down altogether. Epyon falls and lays motionlessly on the ground as Horakhty fades away.

"I win!" Yami announced.

"Nice going," Shinji congratulated.

But before either of them could see it coming, the Epyon reactivates itself and grabs both of them with one hand.

"Jesus! You're harder to kill than a cockroach on steroids!" said Shinji.

As they struggled to free themselves, a compartment on the top of Epyon's head opens up, revealing a Shadow Realm Bomb with only fifteen seconds left on the countdown. Epyon then activates its back thruster, ascending towards the sky at mad speed.

"Yami! Do something!" Shinji pleaded.

"I can't reach my cards!" Yami distressed.

They were now out of the hole and Epyon continues to head towards the sky.

"Is this really the end?" Shinji thought to himself. "No! I mustn't run away! If I can just reach into my…"

It was a very tight squeeze, but Shinji is able to pull out the miniature Magarok E Sword and slice Epyon's hand clean off. They fall towards the ground just as the Shadow Realm Bomb activates, utterly destroying Epyon. Shinji clutches onto Yami and braces himself.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Yami screamed out in an overdramatic fashion just as they were about to make impact…

…but just in a nick of time, Sasuke, in his Cursed Seal Two form, flies by and grabs them both and carries them back to where Ichigo and Inuyasha were waiting.

The sphere caused by the explosion spreads and consumes the entire temple, sucking in the trophified Marik.

Back at the cliff edge, Yami was on his knees and hands, panting.

"Are you alright?" Shinji asked, offering a hand.

"Yes. And thank you, Shinji. Your bravery saved our lives," Yami replied, taking his hand and shaking it.

"We better get moving," Sasuke motioned. "We have to stop this before any more of those bombs go off."

Everyone else nods in agreement. The now group of five head off together.

* * *

Several miles away, the Mysterious Minister watches as the temple is sent into the Shadow Realm.

"What? They got Epyon too!?" he exclaimed. He lowers his head, saddened that another comrade of his had fallen. He thinks about the other mobile suits that sacrificed themselves to activate the Shadow Realm Bombs. "Is this all worth it?" he thought to himself.

He starts to leave, but is startled by a bullet of spiritual energy that flies right by him, barely missing him.

"Damn! I missed _again_!" Yusuke cursed. Goku, Naruto, Luffy, and Kenshin soon catch up to him.

"You're not getting away this time, Minister!" Goku threatened.

Without a word, the Mysterious Minister takes off and the heroes give chase with Goku and Naruto in the lead. The Minister rapidly fires lasers at Goku and Naruto, but the shonen heroes skillfully dodge each attack.

Just as they were getting close to the minister, a gang of Zaku blocks their path.

"Hey! Get out of our way before we kick your asses!" Naruto demanded.

The Minister watches the heroes' plight until something suddenly stops his momentum. He looks down to see one of his own Zaku hanging on the Shadow Realm Bomb he was carrying.

"Hey! What're you doing?" the Mysterious Minister asked him.

"I'm just trying to help you set this bomb down," his overeager minion professed.

"Yeah, but I can just set it down myse…" the minister tried to warn him, but it was too late. He detaches the bomb from the minister's floating platform, dropping both of them to the ground. The Zaku falls to a neck-snapping death while two more of his friends quickly insert their arms into the bomb and activate it.

"Let go, you pieces of junk!" Yusuke yelled, trying to pull one of the Zaku loose. Goku did likewise to the other one, both they just wouldn't budge.

"Huh? What's going on here? I thought Zaku are supposed to be weak!" Goku pondered.

Two more Zaku grab them and easily drag them away.

"What!? But our Power Levels are over 9000!" Yusuke complained.

The Mysterious Minister slowly backs away to a safe distance. He looks down to see one of the Zaku wave at him for the last time. Not a moment afterwards, the bombs timer reaches zero, activating and sending another part of the world into the Shadow Realm. All of the Zaku get sucked into the sphere, breaking apart in the process.

Goku grabs Luffy and Yusuke and flies away at high speed while Kenshin and Naruto run away really fast to avoid a similar fate. They somehow manage to avoid getting sucked into the Shadow Realm, but they had once again failed to stop the Mysterious Minister, and another part of the world paid the price.

* * *

A/N: In the next chapter of the **Shadow Realm Emissary**, Edward and Spike once again run into trouble. Stay tuned.

R.I.P.

Toonami

1997-2008


	10. To the Island

A/N: Here's an extra long update to make up for such a long hiatus. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 10: To the Island**

Spike and Edward continue to trek through the jungle, in search for Frieza and, Ed hoped, his captured brother, Alphonse.

As they are walking, a Mass Monster suddenly appears and rushes right towards Ed. With only a split second to react, Ed manages to sidestep the attack, grab his assailant by the arm, and flip it over onto its back.

"Hey, I did it!" Ed exclaimed as he realized that he's learned Spike's technique. Ed grins triumphantly as Spike gives him a thumbs up.

Without warning, Ed is shot in the back with a Dark Cannon arrow and flies into the air before hitting the ground in trophy form.

"Ed!" Spike yelled. He turns around to find Frieza with his Dark Cannon laughing evilly.

"One down, one to go," Frieza gloated. He charges the Dark Cannon for another shot, but Spike dodges.

"Sorry, pal, but I won't go down so easy," Spike boasted.

"Ha! You fool! You just did exactly what I wanted you to do," Frieza laughed.

"Huh?" blurted Spike. He looks over to Ed and sees him covered in Masses, the same ones that attacked him before. And because of the way Spike avoided Frieza's shot, he was now too far away to do anything about it in time.

"Shit!" Spike cursed.

Once the Masses were done scanning Ed's mind, they rise up into a cloud and change shape, forming into a clone of Edward.

"Not looking so smug now, are you?" Frieza taunted. "You're surrounded, and you can't fight one of us without getting attacked from behind by the other."

Before Frieza could continue, he is startled by two gunshots from above that narrowly miss him. A small blue zipjet, heavily armed with a variety of weapons, flies right above Frieza before u-turning around. It turns over and the ship's pilot leaps out of the open cockpit, unveiling a violet-haired and green-eyed woman that looked like she was in her early 20s. She was wearing a revealing bright yellow outfit and a red jacket. Her name was Faye Valentine.

"It's about time you showed up," Spike complained. "Busy losing all of your money again?"

"Do you want me to save your ass or not?" Faye snapped back.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'," Spike shrugged.

"Aww, isn't that sweet," Frieza mocked. "Now you and your friend can die together."

Frieza aims his Dark Cannon at the two bounty hunters, but before he could take a shot, Faye sprints straight towards the space tyrant and kicks the weapon right out of his hands. Faye then pulls out a Heckler & Koch MP5 and opens fire on the still airborne Dark Cannon until it explodes.

Frieza looks on in shock. "Impossible! How could a mere human catch me off guard like that?" Frieza shouted in disbelief.

"What can I say? You miscalculated," Faye answered.

"No, YOU miscalculated!" Frieza retorted as he slowly rises to the air. "I'm going to go re-stock my supplies, but I'll be right back. In the meantime, have fun playing with my little pet over there," he added before flying off.

Faye turns around to face the False Ed, but to her and Spike's surprise, they see many more Masses rush in and combine with it until the clone grows to a gigantic size.

Spike quickly taps the stand on Ed's trophy, reviving him.

"Ooh, what happen…AAAAHHHH! How'd he get so big!?" Ed screamed as he sees the huge replica of him.

"The only thing that matters now is that we have to kill it!" Spike replied.

"But, but…he's breaking the Laws of Equivalent Exchange!" Ed exclaimed.

Spike and Faye take several shots at the False Ed, but it's surprisingly agile for its size. It dodges the bullets and smacks them hard into the ground. Ed tries to cut his copy with the blade on his auto-mail arm, but it is simply too fast for him. The False Ed retaliates by smacking the real Ed hard.

As Ed gets up, he suddenly gets an idea. He claps his hands together and slams them into the ground, creating a huge brick wall between the False Ed and the heroes.

"That should hold him for awhile," Ed informed his allies. "But now the problem is how do we attack it from the other side of this wall?"

"Leave that to me," Faye insisted, hitting some buttons on her bracelet.

The False Ed pounds away at the brick wall, but to no avail. It takes a few steps back, preparing to ram through the wall, but then it notices Faye's personal ship, The Red Tail, hovering above it. With a push of a button, the Red Tail rains a shower of bullets on the False Ed, finishing the combo with a rocket launch, destroying the collection of Masses utterly.

"Well, now that that's taken care of…" Faye declared as she begins walking off, "…it's time to get back to the…Hey!" she yelled as Ed grabs her shirt and pulls her back.

"You gotta help me rescue my brother…" Ed pleaded until he notices Faye walking away again.

"Sorry, kid, but I got a bounty to catch," Faye said.

"Don't do it," Spike warned her.

Ed grabs her again, this time dragging Faye in the opposite direction.

"I told you not to do it," Spike shrugged.

"Hey, let go of me, you shrim…" Spike covers Faye's mouth with his hand before she can finish. "If you want to live, don't call him the 'S' word. Trust me on this one," Spike advised.

The trio continues through the jungle, and not too long afterwards, something catches Ed's eye. On a moving platform, floating above a shallow river is Al chained up and in trophy form. A few Mass Monsters stand guard on the platform.

"Wait, that's him! That's my brother, Al!" Ed exclaimed.

"Your brother is inside that suit of armor?" Faye questioned.

"Well, no. It's a long story," Ed answered before chasing after the platform. Before he can get close to it, however, the platform suddenly speeds up and flies right over a cliff where it then flies towards a floating island in the distance.

"NO!" Ed slams his fist down in frustration. "I was so close, too!"

"Ed," Faye called out.

"What?" Ed asked.

"I'm not talking to YOU!" she spat back.

Ed then finally notices that she's talking into a handheld communication device with a screen and around twelve or so buttons on it. On the small screen was an androgynous teenage girl with red hair and wearing a pair of goggles on her head.

"Hey! It's Faye-Faye!" Radical Edward greeted.

"Tell Jet to bring the ship over here. We need to get a ride," Faye requested.

Not a moment afterwards, a huge brown ship, the Bebop, ascends over the cliff.

"That was fast," Faye blinked.

"Actually, we were already on our way here," said a middle-aged bald man with a beard and a scar on his right eye, whom could also be seen on the communication device screen. "We found your crashed ship in the jungle, Spike. We picked it and got it repaired," Jet Black notified.

"Huh? How did you guys do that in such a short amount of time? Where'd you guys get the wulong to do that?" Spike asked.

"Your ship needed to be fixed for plot reasons," Radical Edward grinned. "Let's just leave it at that."

* * *

Back at the research facility, Usagi rounds a corner and looks ahead.

"There it is!" she screamed excitedly as she laid eyes on her brooch locked in a glass case across the room. She runs across the bridge in the room to reach the glass case, with Dark Magician tailing close behind her.

Just as they get across, the bridge suddenly retracts, leaving the two stranded in the room. Two figures, each coming from opposite sides of the room, approach the duo. Both of them looked exactly like darker tint versions of Usagi, except that their clothes differed. These doppelgangers wore red bows on their chests (with a brooch in the center), elbow-length white gloves, crescent moon earrings, and tiaras on their foreheads, amongst other differences.

"Huh? Wha-what's going on here?" Usagi wailed in confusion.

"They must've gotten your DNA from the fingerprints on your brooch and then proceeded to make clones of you," the Dark Magician commented. "Worse still, it looks like they also made copies of your brooch that can emulate its powers and properties.

"How despicable, using my likeness for their nefarious plans! I will not stand for this!" Usagi announced with newfound determination.

"I will engage the enemy to your right. You can take care of the one on your left," Dark Magician suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Usagi submitted.

The Dark Magician stands his ground as he faces his opponent. The Sailor Moon clone throws her tiara at him, which transforms into a rotating disc in mid-air. The Dark Magician counters with a Dark Magic Attack, but the two projectiles collide in the air and cancel each other out.

"Oh no! Our attacks cancel each other out!" the Duel Monster repeated.

At Usagi's end, she charges forward just as the clone throws a Moon Tiara at her.

"I may seem like a helpless little girl without my powers, but…UMPH!" Usagi trips and falls before she can finish.

The Moon Tiara glides right over Usagi's body, just misses Dark Magician as it passes by him, and keeps going and smacks the other Sailor Moon clone dead-on, destroying her in one attack. The Dark Magician merely shrugs at his amazing luck.

"As I was saying," Usagi continued as she gets up. "I may seem like a helpless little girl without my powers, but there are two minor details that you forgot about."

The Sailor Moon clone raises her eyebrow, perplexed.

"The first minor detail is this. **SAILOR BODY ATTACK!!!**"

Usagi folds her arms in front of her chest and leaps right at the clone, elbowing her in the face and knocking her down.

"The second minor detail is **SAILOR MOON KICK!!!**"

Usagi gets a running start and delivers a flying kick right into the clones' chest, knocking the clone unconscious.

"Finally," Usagi breathed as she looks back at her brooch. She opens up the glass case and retrieves her brooch, but this triggers an alarm.

"**MOON PRISM POWER!!!**"

An army of Zaku rush in through the doorway, crossing the now restored bridge to stop the intruders.

"**MOON TIARA MAGIC!!!**"

The machines all get hit by the tiara, blowing up spectacularly and sending metal parts flying everywhere. Emerging from the smoke isn't Usagi Tsukino, but her superheroine identity, the Sailor Senshi Sailor Moon.

"And THAT'S how it's done! Because I am the REAL Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice, and in the name of the moon, I will punish you!" Sailor Moon invoked.

"…Punish who, exactly?" the Dark Magician asked, looking around at all the scrap metal.

"Oh. No one, I guess," Sailor Moon laughed embarrassingly.

Sailor Moon struts out of the room with the Dark Magician walking alongside of her.

"So where to next, milady?" the Dark Magician asked.

"We're going to find whoever's responsible for all of this, and I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," Sailor Moon proclaimed. "And I have a feeling that he's somewhere on this island."

Sailor Moon and Dark Magician traverse through the rest of the facility, looking for an exit. They soon find themselves in a large empty room. After a few more steps…

**WHAM!!!**

Sailor Moon is swiftly snatched into the air by a Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The Red-Eyes flies high up and slams Sailor Moon hard into a wall. To make matters worse, the Red-Eyes then grinds her across the wall, putting her in so much excruciating pain that she couldn't help but scream out. Just when things were looking grim for the Sailor Senshi, a Dark Magic Attack hits the dragon, knocking him clean out of the air and causing him to let go. Sailor Moon, somehow, manages to land semi-gracefully although she falls to one knee in immense pain.

"What!? My Attack Points should be higher than his Defense Points, so why isn't he destroyed?" the Dark Magician pondered.

"I think a better question is 'WHAT'S A WILD RED-EYES BLACK DRAGON DOING IN HERE!?!'" Sailor Moon cried.

The Red-Eyes, being none too pleased at being attacked, fires an Inferno Fire Blast from his mouth. Sailor Moon and Dark Magician jump back and evade the blast. Enraged, the Red-Eyes starts firing rapid shots at the two. Although very taxing, the duo manages to avoid all the fireballs until they get cornered in a wall. Gleefully, the Red-Eyes starts charging up his next attack, preparing to do them in.

"Not today, dragon! **THOUSAND KNIVES!!!**" Dark Magician called forth.

Barrages of knives appear all around the Red-Eyes and stab him from all sides. The Red-Eyes Black Dragon roars out in agony.

"**MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!!!**" Sailor Moon called out.

Sailor Moon points her Moon Scepter at the dragon and shoots him with a crescent shaped projectile. The Red-Eyes Black Dragon collapses and falls into the abyss below.

"Moon Dusted!" Sailor Moon finished.

The two warriors stroll through an opening door on the far side of the room and emerge in bright sunlight. They were now outside the research facility and standing atop of a high hill, overlooking much of the island.

"By the way, thanks for saving my bacon back there, Dark Magician. I thought I was a goner," said Sailor Moon.

The Dark Magician shakes his head. "No, we are even now."

As Sailor Moon surveys her surroundings, she notices two Zaku wheeling a Shadow Realm Bomb out of the entrance of a nearby building.

"That must be where they are producing the Shadow Realm Bombs," Dark Magician reasoned.

"Then it's time we shut their operation down!" Sailor Moon asserted.

* * *

Elsewhere on the floating island, hundreds of small, black and fuzzy creatures with spherical bodies and stick-like arms and legs attack a dormant Zaku en masse. Unfortunately for them, this Zaku, unlike the rest which are super-deformed, is the actual size of a mobile suit, so their attacks simply have no effect. The Zaku wakes up at the annoyance and spins around, knocking the critters off of him and causing some of them to dissolve in the process.

The Zaku looks down and sees before him a ten-year-old girl with brown hair and a shoulder-length ponytail and wearing a white and green shirt, red shorts, and yellow shoes.

The girl looks up at the monstrosity and screams loudly. "I'M DREAMING! I'M DREAMING!" Chihiro Ogino shrieked.

A mouse with a fly resting on his head taps Chihiro on the foot. When she turns to him, he points to an incoming object coming from behind them.

The object in question is a slick white racecar with an 'M' written on the hood driving at top speed. The car's driver is a guy wearing a white helmet, a blue shirt with a 'G' on it, a red bandanna around his neck, white pants, and yellow gloves. While the car is still moving, the driver leaps right out of the car and right towards the Zaku.

"**FALCON PUNCH!!!**" Speed Racer called out.

The punch connects right on the Zaku's head, completely knocking him over. However, Speed Racer lands right on the fuzzy creatures, known as Soot Balls, and causes them all to dissolve.

After a long pause, Chihiro finally speaks up.

"Um, mister? Thank you for saving me, but you sort of accidentally stepped on my friends," Chihiro politely pointed out.

Speed turns to the girl and blinks, not noticing she was even there until just now.

"A little girl like you shouldn't be in a dangerous place like this, ha ha!" Speed blurted out. He spoke ridiculously fast and his words didn't even match his mouth movements.

"Oh, it's alright. My friends are with me," Chihiro reassured him. The Soot Balls suddenly reshape themselves and slowly waddle back to Chihiro. "And they'll be fine as long as they have work to do," she added.

"Well, don't get yourself in anymore trouble, ha ha! I have to go stop whoever's behind this invasion, ha ha!" Speed replied.

Speed starts to leave, but Chihiro reaches out to him in protest.

"Hey, wait a minute! Don't leave me here!" Chihiro whined as she runs after him.

And so begins another partnership. As they travel across the island, they run into plenty of enemies, but Speed Racer is surprisingly capable of fighting them off. The Soot Balls, which are quite strong for their sizes, also do their share of the work and whilst protecting Chihiro in the process.

Eventually, the team reaches the edge of the floating island. Speed looks around and sees something coming towards the island. It's the same platform with the chained Al in trophy form.

* * *

Tailing the speeding platform is the Red Tail. Faye is inside piloting it, with Edward Elric crammed inside with her.

"Hurry! Can't this thing go any faster?" Ed complained.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Faye retorted. "And don't you even THINK about trying anything back there!"

Ed rolls his eyes. "Yeah, like I'd really want someone as bitchy as you," he muttered under his breath.

Faye opens up the cockpit and flips the Red Tail over, which makes Ed fall right out of the ship. He lands squarely on the middle of the platform with enough force to knock the Masses off of it.

"Very funny!" said Ed sarcastically as he quickly recovers and shakes his fist at Faye in anger.

* * *

Back on the edge of the island, Speed Racer and Chihiro witness everything.

"We have to help those people, ha ha!" Speed decided.

"Well, yeah, but how are we going to…" Chihiro couldn't finish as Speed grabs her and jumps off the island, sliding down the cliff as Chihiro screams the whole way down.

* * *

Ed quickly taps Al's stand, revitalizing him. Al easily breaks out of his chains.

"I can move again!" Al cheered happily.

"Al! I'm so glad you're back!" Ed teared up as he hugs his brother.

Their reunion is quickly interrupted by the arrival of Speed and Chihiro, who land on the platform.

"Don't mind us; we're just here to help you out, ha ha!" Speed explained.

Not a moment afterwards, a group of Mass Monsters hop onto the platform, ready for a fight.

"And it looks like we just might need your help too," Ed admitted while getting in a fighter stance. The others likewise prepare themselves for a fight.

Ed cuts through several Mass Monsters with his blade-transmuted auto-mail arm. Speed beats down several more opponents. The Soot Balls overwhelm and completely disassemble some of the Mass Monsters. As they are fighting, Al pulls out a sheet of paper with a transmutation circle on it from inside himself. He lays it on the ground slams his hands on it. Pillars pop up from the platform, bumping all of the Masses off of it.

"Way to go, Al!" Ed complimented, giving his sibling a high-five.

"Actually, I was pretty impressed with Speed's moves myself," Al gushed. "I didn't know that you're that good."

"Well, I was training for something not too long ago, but then something came up, ha ha!" Speed conceded.

"You thought you were going to be in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, didn't you?" Ed guessed.

"AH!" Speed gasped with a shocked expression on his face.

The Red Tail flies past the platform, getting everyone's attention.

"Who was that?" Al asked.

"A friend, sort of," Ed answered. "If it wasn't for her and the rest of her colleagues, I never would have found you."

Faye, now seeing that the situation is under control, gives them a thumbs-up before leaving. Ed waves back at her as she goes.

"Um, guys?" Chihiro interjected. "I'm sorry to break up this happy moment, but where exactly are we going?"

The others turn around and see the platform they were standing on fly into a hangar on the side of the island.

"I don't know but it looks like we're going to find out," Ed said intently.

* * *

A/N: Look forward to Kaiba's introduction, amongst others, in the next chapter.


	11. The Mountain

A/N: Like it says in the summary, if you're not caught up to the latest chapters of the Naruto manga, you're going to get spoiled. You've been warned.

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Mountain**

In the skies, an intense battle with the Kaiba Craft 3 and the Bebop is in progress. The Kaiba Craft relentlessly opens fire on the Bebop as the latter takes steady shots at the former.

From below, Ichigo and the rest of his traveling companions watch the dogfight unfold.

"Okay, since when did the Bebop actually have weapons?" Inuyasha complained.

"I don't know. Maybe they just installed some to handle this situation?" Shinji tried to handwave.

As the fight continues, it becomes apparent that the Kaiba Craft is gaining the upper hand.

"This doesn't look good. At this rate, the Kaiba Craft will win for sure," said Ichigo.

"You may be right, Ichigo. If only if there was a way we could help," Yami added.

Without saying a word, Sasuke transforms into his Cursed Seal Two Form and flies off to a nearby mountain.

"Hey, wait for us!" Ichigo pleaded.

But Sasuke was already far up the mountain. He reverts back to his normal form and looks up, noticing that two other people were already scaling the mountain. One of them was a ten-year-old boy with red hair and brown eyes wearing a pair of round glasses and wielding a wooden staff that was longer than he was tall. His name was Negi Springfield. Traveling with him was a fourteen-year-old girl with orange hair and two long ponytails, a blue left eye and a green right eye, and wearing a pink Japanese school uniform. Her name was Asuna Kagurazaka.

Sasuke quickly ascends the mountain by leaping from to rock, passing the duo.

"Hey! Where's he off to in such a rush, I wonder," Negi spoke with a Welsh accent.

"Beats me. Maybe he wants to race or something," Asuna assumed incorrectly.

"A race?" Negi repeated. Asuna jumps ahead, trying to catch up to Sasuke. "Hey, wait for me!" he pleaded, chasing after her.

A trek up the mountain later, the three of them make it to the top of the mountain, with Negi and Asuna narrowly beating Sasuke to the punch.

"Ha! We won!" Asuna cheered while jumping up and down.

"Yes…we…did it," Negi panted, completely out of breath.

Sasuke looks at the two, confused as to what they're talking about. He then looks ahead and sees someone else standing on the very tip of the mountain. It was a brown haired and blue-eyed man in his teens wearing a black outfit and a white badass longcoat, along with a Duel Disk strapped on his arm.

"So, this is where you've been, Seto Kaiba," said Sasuke.

Kaiba snaps his eyes open and stares down at Sasuke, Negi, and Asuna.

"Oh, great. Company," Kaiba said sarcastically. "But at least it's not Yugi and the nerd herd". He jumps down from the tip, landing in front of the three of them. "So, what do you want? And make it quick, I don't have all day!" he demanded.

"Actually, Kaiba, we were wondering what was going on with you and your airship," Negi answered.

"Yeah! Your ship flew over our school and then those weird creatures poured out and attacked everyone!" Asuna added with a more accusing tone.

"Well, obviously, I had nothing to do with that!" Kaiba explained. "Those creatures that you were talking about stormed into KaibaCorp headquarters and hijacked my ship. Even worse, it looks like they're using the weapons that KaibaCorp developed before I took over the company." He points to the ongoing dogfight to indicate what he means. "I've been standing on this mountain waiting for the Kaiba Craft 3 to pass by so that I can jump aboard, but that other ship is delaying things." He complained.

"Well, they're just trying to help," Negi assured him.

"Then they should've just stayed out of this!" Kaiba barked. "And besides, their efforts are futile. Those weapons were developed by my stepfather, Gozaburo Kaiba, and his little goonies, The Big Five, and if there was one thing they were good at it was making weapons for war."

Negi lowers his head, disheartened. But then an idea comes to him.

"Of course! There is a way we can help them! I can just fly over there with my staff, and…"

"…You'll do no such thing!" Kaiba cut him off. "I am perfectly capable of handling this myself! In fact, I would have stopped them from taking my ship in the first place if it wasn't for that guy in the black cloak with red clouds on it delaying me!"

Sasuke perks up with intense interest as Kaiba's words register in his mind.

"This man in a black cloak with red clouds on it. Did he have eyes like this?" Sasuke activates his Sharingan eyes for Kaiba to see.

"Yeah, he did. What's it to you?" Kaiba answered.

"ITACHI!" Sasuke pulls out his sword and points it straight at Kaiba. "What was he after!? Where is he now!? Speak quickly!" Sasuke demanded.

"I don't have time for this nonsense!" said Kaiba. He tries to sidestep Sasuke, but Sauke continues to block his path.

"You WILL answer my questions! Or else!" Sasuke insisted.

"Or else what, you'll cut me down with that little sword of yours?" Kaiba mocked.

"If that's what it takes!" said Sasuke.

"If you want to play that way, fine. This won't take long at all," Kaiba smirked confidently. "I hereby challenge you to a game of Duel Monsters!"

"I don't play around with a stupid children's card game! I have REAL problems to deal with!" Sasuke informed him.

"Well this 'stupid children's card game' is about to give you some REAL pain!" Kaiba threatened.

Negi looks back and forth at the two, afraid of the heated argument escalating into an all-out brawl. He decides to intervene, his teacher instincts taking over.

"Now, now. There's no reason for us to be fighting. After all, we're all on the same side…"

"STAY OUT OF THIS, KID!" Kaiba and Sasuke both shouted at Negi in unison.

Both Negi and Asuna gulp as the back of their heads produce large sweat drops. Sasuke gets into a fighter stance as Kaiba inserts his deck into his Duel Disk.

"Let's duel!" Kaiba declared.

Kaiba draws some cards from his deck and smirks evilly. "This must be my lucky day," he announced. "I place onto the field my X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Dragon!" The holograms of the three different Duel Monsters appear in front of Kaiba. "Next, I COMBINE all of my monsters to form the XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" The three monsters leap up and connect together, forming into the new Duel Monster. "In the first turn of the duel, I've already assembled one of my strongest monsters! I'd like to see you beat that!" Kaiba dared.

Sasuke merely rolls his eyes and slashes the XYZ-Dragon Cannon, causing it to explode. Kaiba cringes in frustration as the dust blows into his face and his Life Point counter decreases.

"It seems he's stronger than I thought," Kaiba thought to himself. He then draws another card and smiles at what he gets. "But with this card, it'll be all over for him."

"I play this card face down! And I also play Saggi the Dark Clown in Attack Mode!" Kaiba commanded.

"A clown? I'm shaking in my boots," Sasuke replied sarcastically.

"Well you should be! Saggi, attack his Life Points directly!" Kaiba ordered.

Saggi obeys and relentlessly attacks the ninja. His attacks connect, and Sasuke yells out in pain…until he suddenly disappears with a puff of smoke, being replaced by a log.

"What!?" Kaiba gasped. "What kind of cheap trick is this!?"

Sasuke reappears and cuts through Saggi, destroying him. Kaiba loses some more Life Points.

"That was the Body Replacement Jutsu. It's one of the basics of the basics of ninjutsu training," Sasuke answered. "But I guess you wouldn't know that, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't," Kaiba admitted. "But what I do know is that I activate my trap card!"

"But how?!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"Easy. I just call out its name dramatically and it pops up. You really should play this game because it's a common occurrence. Watch. I reveal my Crush Card Virus!"

"Crush Card…virus!?" Sasuke mouthed. Not a moment afterwards, Sasuke feels a sharp pain in his chest, causing him to clutch it tightly. "Uh oh!" Sasuke breathed. He creates a Chidori Current from within his body, hoping to neutralize the virus.

"Sorry, but that won't work," Kaiba ensured him. "Once the Crush Card virus is unleashed, it will infect all but the weakest monsters. But you're pretty strong, aren't you? Well, too bad!"

Sasuke doubles over and falls face first into the snow. He glows a bright light and a second later, Sasuke lays there in trophy form.

"Hmph! Looks like I win!" Kaiba declared.

However, in an unexpected move, Kaiba walks over to the trophy and taps the stand, reviving Sasuke.

"Don't think you're getting off that easy! I haven't finished gloating yet!" Kaiba decided.

"I…I lost! To a children's card game!?" Sasuke muttered in disbelief.

Before anyone can say anything more, they hear a rumbling sound.

"Sorry to interrupt you two's dick measuring contest, but it looks like we have bigger things to worry about!" Asuna interjected. "Look!"

She points to something emerging from the clouds. They all turn to see the Kaiba Craft with its crane wrapped around the Bebop and preparing to ram the other ship into the mountain that they're on.

"Uh oh!" Negi gasped.

"This is my chance!" Kaiba announced happily.

"Here it comes!" said Sasuke, readying himself.

The Bebop crashes hard into to mountain, shaking it tremendously. Sasuke and Kaiba both manage to leap onto the Bebop and scale upwards until they aboard the deck of the Kaiba Craft 3. Negi and Asuna however…

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" they both yell as they're thrown right off the mountain.

* * *

Down below, Ichigo and the others look up and see the avalanche of rocks falling from the mountaintop.

"Everyone, get back!" Inuyasha warned his traveling companions.

They all jump back to avoid getting crushed by the rocks.

"Incoming!" Shinji points out Negi and Asuna falling towards them.

"OH NO!" Yami panicked.

The four of them look away, expecting Negi and Asuna to impact the ground hard right in front of them. However, Negi pulls out the staff that inexplicitly hangs on his back and points downward.

"**RAS TEL MA SCIR MAGISTER, SPIRITUS VENTI!!!**"

A gust of wind blows beneath both Negi and Asuna, slowing their descent. They land gently on the ground unharmed.

"Man, I thought you guys were dead for sure," Inuyasha admitted.

"Hey, don't sell Negi short like that. After all, he is a western mage," Asuna pointed out.

Negi embarrassingly smiles and scratches the back of his head. "Gee, uh thanks, Asuna," he replied.

But the group then notices the huge wave of Mass Monsters forming right next to them. Yami clenches his teeth and cringes in frustration. "More of these monsters?" he lamented.

"Nothing we can't handle," Asuna stressed while stepping forward from the group. She pulls out her copy of her pactio card. "**ADEAT!!!**" Asuna called forth. Her card transforms itself into a giant harisen fan. She then slaps several Mass Monsters with it, causing them to dissolve into the air. As she attacks, it allows Negi time to cast a spell.

"**SAGITTA MAGICA!!! SERIES LUCIS!!!**"

Negi launches several magical missiles of light at the remaining enemies, obliterating them. However, another wave of Mass Monsters quickly replace their fallen comrades.

"What? There's more?" Negi said in disbelief.

Negi continues to launch various wind and light spells at the mob of Masses, with Asuna as his support. The others also join in. Shinji shoots as many as he can with his pallet gun. Yami attacks them with numerous Duel Monsters. Inuysha and Ichigo both slash many of them with their swords. But no matter how many they defeat, more just keep coming.

"There's just no end to these guys!" Ichigo complained.

"Looks like you guys could use some help," a voice called out.

They all turn their hands and see Goku, Yusuke, Kenshin, Naruto, and Luffy all standing on a nearby cliff, all of them standing in dramatic heroic poses. They all leap down and join the others.

"You all have done a great job so far. But you guys should sit back and rest while you let the five of us handle it from here," Goku suggested.

"No way!" Shinji objected. "You see how many of them they are! We all should fight them togeth…"

"No Shinji, he's right," Yami interrupted. "As tired as we are right now, we'll just be in their way. It is best if we just have faith in our friends."

"Well, this definitely sucks, though, getting saved by a bunch of Shonen Jump heroes," Inuyasha snorted.

"Hey! What's wrong with Shonen Jump!?" Ichigo and Yami both yelled in unison.

"Um, nothin'!" Inuyasha quickly retracted.

As Ichigo's group stand on the sidelines, Goku's group confronts the Masses. Goku starts off by teleporting right in the middle of the crowd of Mass Monsters and raising both arms to his sides.

"**DOUBLE KAMEHAMEHA!!!**"

He blasts all of the Masses on both sides of him with energy beams. The Masses on one side are sent far and crash into a cliff a ways off. The Masses on the other side just disintegrate into nothingness.

"**SHOTGUN!!!**"

Yusuke destroys more of the Masses with bursts of spiritual energy bullets from his fist.

Meanwhile, another crowd of Masses gather around Kenshin, surrounding him. The former man-slayer looks around, analyzing his predicament. "So, it appears that I will need more than one hit to take all of you down. In that case..."

"**...HITEN MITSURUGI STYLE: RYU SOU SEN!!!**"

In a flash, Kenshin strikes each and every Mass Monster repeatedly so fast that the human eye couldn't register his movements. The barrage of attacks knocks all of them down, unable to get back up due to the pain.

"**GEAR THIRD!!!**"

Luffy bites into his mouth joint and blows hard.

"**BONE BALLON!!!**"

His hand inflates to a gigantic size. He then shifts the air in his body to one of his legs.

"**GUM GUM GIGANT AXE!!!**"

He raises his **HUGE** leg up and drops his foot on the army of Masses, crushing most of the remaining forces.

Oddly enough, during this whole battle, Naruto remains _**absolutely still**_ with his eyes closed. Finally, he opens his eyes, revealing red rings around his eyes and slit-like pupils.

"Check out my new Sage Mode! Hot off the manga press!" Naruto bragged.

He makes three Shadow Clones appear right beside him just as the last remaining Masses charge at him. Naruto holds his hand out while gathering chakra into his palm. One of the clones help shape the chakra into a sphere while another clone inputs wind-nature chakra into it. Finally, Naruto raises his hand, holding up a shuriken-shaped sphere of wind giving off a loud screech.

But unexpectedly, Naruto doesn't stop there. The third clone also begins gathering chakra into his palm, and the other two clones repeat the process, resulting with the Shadow Clone holding an identical shuriken-shaped wind sphere.

"**WIND STYLE: **_**DOUBLE**_** RASENSHURIKEN!!!**"

Naruto and the third Shadow Clone both **throw** their Rasengans at the Masses simultaneously. Both attacks cut through rows of Masses before expanding into vortexes of wind chakra blades, tearing to shreds all of the Masses caught in the technique. As the two vortexes expand, they connect with one another, converging into one HUGE ball of destruction that lays to waste most of the landscape, ensuring that no Masses survive.

"Now THAT'S one hell of a way to crash a party!" Yusuke cracked.

"Well, there's only one thing left to do," said Luffy, except his voice was much higher-pitched than normal. Everyone looks at him and sees that he has somehow reverted into a chibi-like form. "Oh, this is a side-effect from using Gear Third. Don't worry, I'll be back to normal in a few seconds," the pirate explained.

"Anyway, we still need to stop that Kaiba Craft," Goku picked up.

"Actually, Kaiba's on the ship right now trying to regain control of it," said Negi.

All eyes except Asuna's turn to the young mage.

"He's right. Kaiba was waiting on top of the mountain when the Kaiba Craft slammed the Bebop into it. He was able to jump onto the ship during that moment," Asuna elaborated.

"Yeah, and Sasuke made it on the ship too," Negi added.

Naruto's eyes nearly bulge out of his sockets. "S-Sasuke!?" he blurted out.

"Yeah. He was traveling with us for awhile," said Ichigo.

Naruto's jaw hangs in the air as his head turns blue and his eyes become blank and circular. He then lowers his head in abasement. "I can't believe that I JUST missed him," he despaired. Luffy pats him on the back for comfort.

"Well, Kaiba and I may not always see eye-to-eye on things, but he is an excellent duelist. With him and Sasuke working together, I'm sure they won't have any problems retaking the Kaiba Craft 3," Yami acknowledged.

"Well I guess we'll just have to put our faith into them," said Goku, crossing his arms and gazing at the stolen airship in the sky.

* * *

A/N: Come back next chapter where the character playing Snake is finally revealed.


	12. Retaking the Kaiba Craft Part 1

A/N: Well, I have a job now, so I've had less free time to work on this.

Also, I decided to change my mind on who my Snake character will be at the last minute, so I guess you can ignore the part about him waiting to receive orders. I figured that since Sonic and Snake are both non-Nintendo characters, I chose to use characters who aren't _quite_ anime characters for them. You'll see what I mean.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Retaking the Kaiba Craft Part 1**

Aboard the Kaiba Craft 3 in an empty room, the stowaway that's hiding in a cardboard box finally decides to make his move. He lifts up and casts aside the box, revealing himself to be a ten-year old African American boy with an afro and an ever-present angry look on his face.

"Who were you expecting? Samuel L. Jackson?" Huey Freeman said to the readers.

After surveying his surroundings, Huey explores the corridors of the airship carefully, making sure to not be seen by the Masses patrolling the ship. Not too long after beginning his operation, he suddenly hears footsteps coming from behind him. Huey cautiously hides under his box to avoid detection from the oncoming company.

Outside the box, Sasuke and Kaiba rush through the hallway. As they run by the box, however, Sasuke makes a sudden stop.

"Hey! Why are we stopping?" Kaiba demanded.

"Alright, whoever else is in here can come on out now," Sasuke announced loudly.

Huey grows nervous, but he decides to stand his ground. Kaiba, however, soon grows very impatient.

"Stand aside!" he yelled as he steps to the middle of the hallway. He pulls out a card from his deck and raises it high in the air. "I activate Stop Defense, allowing me to switch one face-down monster into Attack Mode!"

The cardboard box gets blown away by nothing, exposing Huey to Sasuke and Kaiba.

"**!**" Huey jumped in surprise upon realizing that he's been found. He quickly regains composure and gets into a fighter stance.

"Who are you? And what are you doing on my ship!?" Kaiba demanded.

"Me? I'm only the founder of 23 radical leftist organizations, including the Black Revolutionary Organization or B.R.O., Africans Fighting Racism and Oppression or A.F.R.O., and the Black Revolutionary Underground Heroes, or B.R.U.H.," Huey stated. "And I'm here to clean up your mess, Seto Kaiba."

"Well I don't need any help!" Kaiba rebuffed. Sasuke steps in between the two to avoid an escalation.

"Looks like that's going to have to wait," Sasuke informed them as he points to the approaching Mass Monsters coming their way.

"Well, the life of a black hero has never been for the weak of heart," said Huey as he pulls out a katana blade. The young revolutionary wastes no time in cutting down the mob of Masses like butter. Sasuke joins suite and mows down some of the remaining Masses with his own sword. Kaiba finishes the rest of them by throwing cards at them.

"Well, that wasn't so hard," Sasuke bragged, sheathing his sword.

"You know, we all worked well together back there," Huey observed. After pondering about something for a few seconds, he comes to a decision. "All right, it's a bit of a change in plans, but I guess I'll let you guys in on Operation Liberate Japan." He takes a few steps forward before stopping and turning around. "By the way, my name is Huey Freeman."

"I'm Sasu-,"

"Actually, I already know who both of you are," Huey interrupted. "You're Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan and that's Seto Kaiba, the President of KaibaCorp."

They both raise eyebrows at him.

"What? You think it's strange for a black person to watch anime?" Huey stared accusingly at them. The two anime characters shake their heads. "Good".

The newly formed trio runs through corridor to corridor, taking out any enemy they encounter. Eventually, they find themselves in front of a huge door that automatically opens up as they approach.

"Hmm, wonder what's in here?" Sasuke wondered. He walks into the room with Huey following.

"Don't bother going in there," Kaiba tried to warn them. "It's a dead en…whoa!"

Kaiba had just caught sight of two cages hanging from the ceiling, which contained both Chi-Chi and Sakura in their trophy forms.

"S-Sakura!" Sasuke mouthed.

"And that looks like Goku's wife Chi-Chi," Huey added. "We better hurry and get those two down from there."

But before they could do anything, Masses trickle down the chains holding the cages up and engulf the two captives. The Masses then pour onto the floor and form into copies of Chi-Chi and Sakura.

"Clones!" Sasuke deplored.

"Well, at least in this case, we can tell which Chi-Chi is the fake one," Huey said.

Sasuke promptly facepalms. "PLEASE don't mention that movie in front of me! Even I'M embarrassed, and I'm not even a Dragonball character!"

"Ugh, I know how you feel," Kaiba added. "And the worse is yet to come. Apparently, they're now working on a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie with Keanu Reeves as Spike."

Huey and Sasuke both make an audible groan.

"Sadly, it gets worse," Sasuke regretted to inform them. "They're also making a Full Metal Panic movie, and do you want to know who's rumored to be playing Sousuke? _**ZAC EFRON!!!**_"

"GODDAMN IT!!!" Huey cursed. "I mean, it's bad enough that Hollywood makes terrible black movies that do nothing but continuously perpetuate negative stereotypes of black people that are nevertheless consumed and internalized in the minds of many impressionable niggas, but do they have to ruin anime too!? After all of this is over, I may need to pay Hollywood a visit."

After getting done with his rant, Huey draws out his sword, ready to take his frustration out on the Masses.

(A/N: The rant you just read does not necessarily reflect my personal views on the subject of Hollywood adapting anime into films. At least not all of it does anyway. I just thought it would be funny.)

Not wasting any more time, the False Chi-Chi charges towards the young revolutionary. Huey swings his sword at his opponent, but the False Chi-Chi blocks the attack…with her bare hand. With the other hand, she slaps Huey in the cheekbone, sending him flying into the nearest wall and causing him to drop his sword.

Meanwhile, Sasuke takes several swaps with his sword at the False Sakura, but she gracefully avoids each slash. The Uchiha then makes a cocky smirk before leaping into the air, just in time to avoid the Duel Monster card that Kaiba threw from behind him. However, the False Sakura catches the card from its trajectory before tearing it in two.

"My card!" Kaiba mourned.

"You idiot! Don't throw cards at them! Use them!" Sasuke berated.

"All right, fine! I will!" Kaiba places a card on his Duel Disk. "I call forth my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" The hologram of a ferocious white dragon with blue eyes materializes in front of Kaiba.

Sasuke tries to attack the False Sakura from the side while her attention was on the Duel Monster, but she kicks him in the stomach without even turning around. She then frog leaps right over the Blue-Eyes and socks Kaiba right in the jaw, knocking him across the room.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," said Huey as he puts on a glove that looks similar to a Nintendo Power Glove. Huey forms a fist with his hand and the glove begins to emit electricity. "The Black Power Glove," he announced. "An inexpensive device that delivers thousands of volts of imperialism-stopping-electricity without the need of super powers or secret alien technology."

Huey throws a punch with his Black Power Fist, only for the False Chi-Chi to catch it in her hand and to retaliate with a kick to the stomach strong enough to knock Huey a few feet.

False Chi-Chi slowly advances toward the young conspiracy theorist while False Sakura was likewise edging toward a recovering Kaiba. Sasuke sees his two allies in trouble and uses his faster-than-the-eye-can-see speed to move himself between the two fake fighters. He then stretches his arms out to each side and touches both of them.

"**CHIDORI CURRENT!!!**"

Sasuke sends jolts of electricity throughout his body, shocking and paralyzing both of his opponents.

"Finish them, now!" the ninja warns Huey and Kaiba before jumping out of blast radius.

"**BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!!! WHITE LIGHTNING ATTACK!!!**"

The Blue-Eyes spits out a blast of energy directed at the False Sakura. The clone is hit dead on with the attack, leaving only charred remains.

Huey does a sweeping kick, knocking the False Chi-Chi on her back. He then jumps high into the air and hammers his Black Power Fist into her stomach hard, frying the copy until it dissolves.

"Hey! You stole that technique from me!" Sasuke complained. "That move was exactly like my Chidori!"

"So? You do nothing but steal other people's moves!" Huey argued.

"Touché," Sasuke admitted.

"Well, all of that was a complete waste of my time! Now I say we get back to reclaiming my ship!" said Kaiba as he walked out of the room.

"And I can't let anyone from the Leaf Village know where I am. Do you think you can handle things from here yourself?" Sasuke asked Huey.

"Don't worry about me. This will only take a sec," the ten-year-old reassured him.

With a nod of acknowledgment, Sasuke leaves Huey to his task. Huey pulls out an airsoft gun from his pocket and shoots the chains holding up the cages. The cages break upon impact with the floor, which somehow instantly revives Chi-Chi and Sakura.

"Oh, thank Kami I can finally move again!" Chi-Chi praised. "I have cramps from being in trophy form since Chapter 1!"

Sakura blinks as she takes a look at their rescuer. "Are you from the Hidden Cloud Village?"

"No," Huey replied simply. "Anyway, you two are currently onboard the Kaiba Craft. My accomplices and I are currently fighting to regain control of the ship. Speaking of which, I need to catch up to them," he quickly explained the situation. Huey takes a couple of steps before turning back around. "Oh, and you two better stay in here while we take care of things."

And with that, the ten-year-old radical runs out of the room, leaving the two ladies behind.

Sakura starts heading for the door right behind Huey.

"Hey, wait!" yelled Chi-Chi. "He just told us to…"

"Sorry, but I just can't sit on the sidelines anymore," Sakura stopped to explain. "When I first became a ninja, I didn't take my training seriously and all I ever did was fangirl around Sasuke. Even worse, I constantly nagged on Naruto for being the worst student in our class. However, as both Naruto and Sasuke got stronger, I began to realize that _I_ was the real dead weight of the team, and the more time went on, the worse I looked compared to them. When the Sound and Sand Villages jointly attacked the Leaf, all I accomplished was becoming a damsel-in-distress that had to be rescued by Naruto. After that, I was completely helpless to stop Sasuke from leaving the village, and I begged Naruto to bring him back because I was too weak to do it myself. I decided to start training with Tsunade after that so that I would never have to be that weak little girl that's a burden to everyone else ever again."

"I know how you feel," Chi-Chi sympathized. "I don't like sitting at home worrying while my husband and sons are out fighting, but those creeps they fight are so absurdly strong that I they could kill me just by breathing on me." She lowers her head in shame, but after a few seconds, she suddenly flares with passion and determination. "You know what, kid? Count me in! Let's show these men that we can be useful too!"

"Just a sec, though. I've been working on a new jutsu, and right now is a good time to test it out," said Sakura. She performs a few hand signs, and a poof of smoke appears and covers her body. When the smoke clears, Chi-Chi does a double take upon what she sees.

"Uh, Sakura? Are you okay?"

"HELL YEAH I'M OKAY! WHY WOULDN'T I BE OKAY!? SHANNARO!!!" Sakura replied, though she looks different, namely that her body is now just a white outline of herself with Japanese symbols imprinted on her forehead.

The metal doors open and Inner Sakura cautiously steps out of the room, with Chi-Chi right behind her. They both peer out of an open door that leads outside.

"If we go out there, we should be able to get to the top of the ship. But if we fall off…well, let's just say that its times like this where I really wish I learned how to fly," said Chi-Chi weighting their options. "So, should we risk it?"

"HELL YES!!!" Inner Sakura answered.

* * *

A/N: Find out what happens to Chi-Chi and Inner Sakura in the next chapter, blah, blah, blah.


	13. Retaking the Kaiba Craft Part 2

A/N: OK, time for another chapter. But before that, I'll clarify a couple of things.

To answer darknessbounty, the character I was originally going to use for Snake was Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing, though I'll admit that I had a lot more fun writing that last chapter with Huey in it instead.

To vastler75: The reason why I used a lot of Shonen Jump characters is because they're, for the most part, the anime characters I'm most familiar with.

To Hurricane's Quill: Well, I don't really hate Keanu Reeves either, though I will admit that I'm having a hard time seeing him being able to pull off Spike.

So without further ado…

* * *

**Chapter 13: Retaking the Kaiba Craft Part 2**

A huge air battle commences between the Kaiba Craft 3 and Spike's Swordfish II, as every gun aboard the airship tries to shoot down the smaller aircraft. Spike, however, skillfully maneuvers his ship through the sea of gunfire without getting hit.

"Jet, come in! Are you alright?" Spike communicated to the now crashed Bebop.

The small monitor in the Swordfish II cockpit switches on, showing the face of a badly bruised Jet Black.

"I'm a little banged up from the crash, but I'm fine, Spike. Ed and Ein are trophified, but our worst problem is that the Bebop has been completely totaled. I can't believe this! Do you know how much money it's going to take to fix this?" Jet stops and takes a deep breath, holding in his anger. "Spike, whatever you do, you and Faye can't let that bounty get away," Jet finished before terminating communications.

"Got it," Spike answered determinedly. Spike takes several shots at the deck of the ship, which miss Chi-Chi by mere inches and cause a huge explosion behind her. Chi-Chi, however, who along with Inner Sakura had just reached the deck, is completely unfazed.

As Spike circles back around, a stray shot nixes his wing, momentarily making the Sowrdfish II lose its balance and spiral out of control. Spike quickly adjusts and recovers, just in time to avoid a charged up shot from the Kaiba Craft's main cannon.

"Looks like I'll have to do something about that cannon," said Spike.

Inner Sakura looks up and sees the Swordfish fire several shots in Chi-Chi's direction. The shots narrowly miss her and hit the main cannon right behind, blowing it up and startling her.

"Oh no he didn't!" Inner Sakura yelled out, misunderstanding Spike's intentions.

She leaps high into the air and disappears in a puff of smoke. An instant later, she reappears right on the nose of the Swordfish II.

"What the!?" Spike exclaimed.

"**THIS FAIRY TALE IS FOR REAL!!!**" Inner Sakura blurted out before smashing the windshield with her fist.

Spike ejects from his ship and both he and Inner Sakura fall onto the deck of the Kaiba Craft 3.

"Hey! You messed up my ride!" Spike complained.

"Oh. I thought it was just an old ship to you," Inner Sakura mocked.

"Why, you little...!" Spike snarled.

Spike and Inner Sakura charge at one another. Spike tries to kick the kunoichi, but she throws a punch and both attacks block one another.

"Hey!" Chi-Chi shouted, stopping the fighting and diverting their attention to her. "Our world is in the middle of being invaded right now, and instead of working together to combat this threat, you two are busy fighting each other like a couple of children! If you two don't stop RIGHT NOW, both of you will be GROUNDED!" she threatened in a motherly tone.

"…Yes, ma'am," Spike and Inner Sakura both complied quietly while producing huge sweatdrops from their foreheads.

"Man, this woman is SCARY!" Spike thought to himself.

The background suddenly turns black, and we see the inner thoughts of Inner Sakura, represented by an image of regular Sakura appearing right beside her. "No wonder they say the only thing Goku's afraid of is his own wife!" Sakura monologued.

* * *

Kaiba, Sasuke, and Huey step out of an elevator and find themselves on the Kaiba Craft 3's bridge. After fighting their way through armies of mooks, they had reached their final destination. If they could take out the pilot, they could reclaim Kaiba's airship.

To their surprise, they find the ship being piloted by five child-like creatures with brown fur all over their bodies, brown and white hair, elf-like ears, and all of them wearing pink dresses.

"I am Seto Kaiba, President of KaibaCorp, and I hereby order you to land this ship immediately!" Kaiba demanded.

"MEOW! MEOWWWW!" they all blissfully replied, ignoring the order.

The trio raise their eyebrows and look at each other in confusion.

"Man, this is some ol' bullshit!" Huey concluded.

Huey runs across to the other side of the room, and seconds later, all of the creatures are knocked out of the bridge window and fall onto the ship's deck, landing right in front of Inner Sakura, Spike, and Chi-Chi.

"Ugh?" gasped Spike.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Inner Sakura.

All of the creatures dissolve into Masses, and the Masses join together to form a new giant entity: A man with white hair and green lips outfitted with a grey-ish brown robe and a rope belt, and, most bizarrely, had another head protruding out of the back of his neck.

"What!? But Kankuro killed you! At least, that's what Kiba said!" Inner Sakura stated.

"Yeah, but I'm alright now," Sakon informed them.

Meanwhile, the others on the bridge watch what is going on down on the deck.

"Ugh. Not more cheap tricks! I guess if you want something done, you have to do it yourself!" Kaiba reassured himself before jumping out the window.

"You're not getting rid of us that easily, Kaiba," Huey determined before following suit.

"Wait a minute. Somebody has to stay and fly the…" Sasuke tried to warn them before being too late. "…ship. Guess it's going to be me. And I was looking forward to a rematch with that guy," he sighed to himself.

Kaiba and Huey both land behind the other heroes.

"Alright! Reinforcements have arrived!" Inner Sakura yelled.

"_Didn't_ I tell you two to stay in that room?" Huey scolded.

"Don't underestimate me! I'm not the same faux action girl that I was back in Part I of Naruto, SHANNARO!!!" Inner Sakura boasted.

Just then, the Red Tail flies overhead, and Faye leaps out, joining up with the group.

"Don't think I'm going to let you have all the fun, Spike," Faye smirked.

"Well, it looks like you're out of luck," Spike stated calmly to Sakon. "It's six of us and only one of you."

"Actually, it's six against two," Inner Sakura informed them all.

"Huh?" Spike looked on, confused.

"You're actually looking at Sakon and Ukon, two brothers with the ability to merge with themselves. Ukon spends most of his time with his body merged within Sakon, but he can assist Sakon in battle by sticking out parts of his body from anywhere on Sakon's body," Inner Sakura lectured.

"I see that the Leaf Village must keep files on all the ninjas that they kill. But this time, things will be different. I'm going to enjoy toying around with you pieces of trash," Sakon insulted.

But before Sakon could do anything, a hand sprouts out from his chest and covers his mouth.

"We have no time to waste, Sakon. We'll finish this quickly by going into Stage Two," Ukon insisted.

"You just have to spoil my fun, don't you," Sakon replied.

The two brothers enter their Cursed Seal Two stage, changing their bodies to resemble red orges with longer hair and one horn on each of their foreheads.

"Let me guess. Their Power Levels just increased multiple fold, didn't it?" Chi-Chi asked Inner Sakura.

"How'd you know?" she responded.

"This type of thing happens all the time where I'm from. Or so I've heard."

"Well, if he's so eager to get this over with, I say we show that Ukon guy some Girl Power," Faye suggested.

"HELL YEAH! NOW YOU'RE TALKING!" Inner Sakura agreed.

The three females circle around to Sakon's backside/Ukon's frontside. The two brothers laugh in delight.

"So, what's your liking, bro?" Sakon casually asked his brother.

"In pieces," said Ukon.

Chi-Chi is the first to attack, getting in close and throwing a karate chop at Ukon, but Ukon phases his leg through Sakon's back, kicking Chi-Chi back and knocking her into Faye right when she was aiming her Heckler & Koch MP5. Inner Sakura springs up to Ukon's eye level and launches a combo of rapid-fire punches to his face until he swats her away by phasing his arm through his forehead.

Meanwhile, Huey brings out his sword and gets into a stance.

"I don't know how you got here, Sakon, but you're going back to hell," Huey threatened.

"Like I'll lose to a piece of trash like you," Sakon mocked.

Provoked, Huey slashes relentlessly at the colossal Sound Ninja, but, despite his size, he dodges all of his attacks. "Come, negro-san!" Sakon taunted. After a few more dodges, Sakon decides to go on the offensive.

"**MULTIPLE CONNECTING PUNCHES!!!**"

Using his arm, along with Ukon's arms sprouting alongside his own, Sakon smacks the young African American to the floor hard. Kaiba steps forward for his turn.

"For my first monster, I summon…"

"**MULTIPLE CONNECTING KICKS!!!**"

And Kaiba gets sent flying before he can even lay down a card. Spike jumps in close for an airborne strike. Sakon and Ukon try another Multiple Connecting Punches attack, but to their surprise, Spike grabs Sakon's arm and blocks Ukon's arms with his legs. Spike then takes hold of Sakon's free arm. With both sets of arms restrained, Huey springs up to Sakon's neck, preparing to slice his head right off.

But even during this moment, Sakon remains calm and even smiles eagerly. "How about we play some nice music. **DO!!!**"

Both Huey and Spike get knocked back far by soundwaves.

"What the!?" they both responded together.

"**RE!!!**"

A second wave of sound knocks the two of them flat on their backs. Huey, Spike, and Kaiba struggle to get back on their feet, but when they do, they find, to their surprise, that Sakon and Ukon have suddenly stopped moving. They then notice Inner Sakura, performing a hand sign.

"It seems that this body is useful for not only repelling genjutsu, but casting them as well. So what are you guys waiting for? FINISH THEM before they can break out of that genjutsu!" Inner Sakura blurted.

"Allow me!" Chi-Chi insisted. She pulls out a big red fan, the Bansho Fan, and takes a swing. It produces a gust of wind so strong that it blows Sakon and Ukon high into the sky.

"I now summon all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons! Next, I use Polymerization to combine all of my monsters to form the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

A large and ferocious looking three-headed dragon materializes from Kaiba's Duel Disk.

"**WHITE LIGHTNING ATTACK!!!**"

The Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon blasts Sakon and Ukon with its attack. When the smoke clears, nothing appears to remain.

"Hmph! Good riddance!" Chi-Chi cheered.

"Yo!"

Chi-Chi looks over her shoulder and sees Sakon's head growing from it. She tries to hit him, but he grabs her arm.

"I can merge with my brother, but what you're friend over there forgot to mention is that I can also merge with other people," Sakon informed them all. "And the worse part for all of you is that you can't attack me now, at least, not without hurting your comrade here."

Without wavering, Spike takes out his gun and points it right at Sakon's head.

"That's a real shame, but she's no comrade of mine. Sorry lady, but I don't protect or serve; this is strictly business," Spike said simply.

"What?" Sakon gasped.

"Hey, I know you don't mean that, Spike!" Inner Sakura pleaded.

"Cowboy scumbag!" Sakon gritted under his teeth.

Sakon takes Chi-Chi's Bansho Fan and attempts to use it against Spike, but before he can, he gets a bullet in the forehead, forcibly defusing him from Chi-Chi and making him hit the deck. He lays there motionlessly.

Spike blows the smoke from his gun barrel. "Bang."

Sakon's body dissolves, leaving behind a trophy of a small, four-legged creature with brown fur all over its body and looked like a cross between a cat and a rabbit.

Spike raises his gun and points it at the trophy. "There's our target: Ryo-Ohki!" he announced.

"Hey! Don't tell me you're going to shoot that poor, defenseless, animal over there!" Chi-Chi objected.

"Poor, defenseless, animal, my ass! That's a wanted criminal that destroyed 28 planets and 69 colonies!" Faye asserted.

"Nonsense!" Chi-Chi insisted, walking up to the trophy and tapping the stand.

"Don't do it! That's a ruthless killer you're unleashing!" Spike warned her.

"Meow?" Ryo-Ohki looked around in confusion after revitalizing. After coming to her senses, Ryo-Ohki runs around in circles playfully.

"Ooh, I'm wetting my pants in terror from the ruthless killer! Ooh!" Inner Sakura sarcastically mocked.

"Shut up!" Faye shot back.

Chi-Chi digs into her pants pockets, trying to find something. "After all of that fighting, you're probably hungry, aren't you? I should have some food in here somewhere…Ah! Here it is!"

Ryo-Ohki yanks the carrot out of Chi-Chi's hand and starts chowing down before she is even able to fully pull it out.

"I guess she really likes carrots," Huey stated the obvious.

"None of this matters to me, though. We still need to turn that thing in to the authorities. It has a huge bounty on its head, and we need the reward money to…"

Chi-Chi stops Spike cold with just a stern look. She turns and gives Faye one too.

"…Yes, ma'am," Spike and Faye both complied quietly while producing huge sweatdrops from their foreheads.

* * *

"Well, looks like that's over," Sasuke thought to himself back on the bridge. He walks up to the control panel for the ship. "But I suppose we should head back to the others."

He punches in some coordinates into the control panel, guiding the Kaiba Craft 3 out of the red clouds and back into the blue sky.

"Hey! You're a girl!" Faye finally came to realize about Ryo-Ohki.

* * *

A/N: Join us for the next chapter, where the identity of the Mysterious Minister will be revealed.


	14. Melancholy of the Mysterious Minister

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, but I've been having other story ideas come to me lately, and as a result, I just couldn't concentrate on this. However, I finished this just in time for my birthday. ^_^

And JakeCrusher, I actually AM planning on explaining why Light joined up with the other villains.

* * *

**Chapter 14: The Melancholy of the Mysterious Minister**

Alarms blaze loudly throughout the complex as Sailor Moon and the Dark Magician storm through the Shadow Realm Bomb Factory. They rush through a hallway as fast as they can, wanting to avoid anymore encounters with the Zaku guards as well as finding whoever's leading the invasion as quickly as possible.

The two heroes reach a door at the end of the hallway and promptly blast through it. They slide into the room…and find themselves standing right in front of the elusive Mysterious Minister himself. Right behind him is an entire army of Zakus in stand-by mode and further behind them were rows upon rows of Shadow Realm Bombs.

"Mysterious Minister, you have sent several parts of our world into the Shadow Realm!" said Sailor Moon.

"And along with them many innocent people as well, condemning those lives into eternal suffering!" the Dark Magician added.

"We cannot forgive you, nor allow you to commit any further atrocities!"

"For I am Mahad, a priest serving under the Pharaoh, whose spirit lives on as the Dark Magician!"

"And I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice, and in the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

The Mysterious Minister reacts in a way that neither of them expected; he hangs his head down as if he was sad. "Meh, go ahead," he insisted.

"Huh!?" they both exclaimed.

"Go ahead and punish me. It's what I deserve for everything I've done," the minister explained.

Sailor Moon scratches her head in confusion. "Well, this is different. Usually when I get done with my 'In The Name of the Moon' speech, the monster of the week starts firing attacks at me, and then I avoid the attacks by running away and screaming until I get rescued by Tuxedo Mask, and then after that, I use the finishing move that I could've used on them the whole time to vaporize them." She then smiles confidently. "I guess he's giving up because he knows he can't beat me!"

"…Somehow, I doubt that," said the Dark Magician.

Before they can say anything further, a part of the wall high up is suddenly transmuted into a door by alchemy. Alphonse, Edward, Chihiro, and Speed Racer all jump down from the door and land right behind Sailor Moon and Dark Magician.

"Don't worry, Sailor Moon, we'll rescue you, ha ha!" Speed Racer exclaimed. "Hey, wait a minute…"

The four newcomers survey their surroundings until they realize that the situation is under control.

"Huh? So you actually DON'T need rescuing for once?" the shocked Al asked Sailor Moon.

"Oh well," Ed shrugged. "Anyway, we're shutting your operation down, you false minister!" he threatened.

"Wait a minute, guys!" Sailor Moon turned to the others. "I think he's had a change of heart."

"She's right. Things have gone far enough. My Zakus and I surrender ourselves to you," the minister tried to convince them.

"I don't know," Ed crossed his arms, unconvinced of his sincerity. "How do we know that we can trust you? What exactly brought this on?"

"Well…" the Mysterious Minister began before noticing a red glow behind him. He turns around and sees a huge hologram of Light Yagami, wearing a hood over his head to conceal his identity.

"Minister! Why haven't you completed your latest task yet?" Light's voice, distorted by a voice changer, boomed throughout the room. He then looks down and notices the others in the room. "Oh, I see. It seems that our little base of operations has been infiltrated."

"And who are you?" Al asked.

"I am Kira!" Light proudly announced.

"So you're that delusional mass murderer who thinks he has the right to play God!" Ed growled.

"Delusional? I AM JUSTICE!" Light spat back. "I protect the innocent and those who fear evil! I'm the one who will become the God of a new world that everyone desires! All the ones who would oppose that God; they're the ones that are truly evil!"

Chihiro raises an eyebrow. "How is teaming up with a bunch of bad guys and sending the whole world into the Shadow Realm protecting the innocent and those that fear evil?" she innocently called him out.

"Poor, naïve, little girl. Everything that has transpired up until now has been all part of my plan to achieve my goals. Unfortunately, since all of you are there, all of you will have become necessary sacrifices in order for me to get one step closer to creating a new world." Light turns his head to the Mysterious Minister. "That is, as soon as you follow my latest orders."

"…I'm not doing it," the Mysterious Minister defied him.

"What!?" Light gasped, annoyed.

"Did you really think that I'd…You honestly expect me to carry that order out knowing the consequences!?"

Light responds with a confident smile and a small chuckle.

"What are you so smug for?" the Mysterious Minister asked. "It's not like you can kill me for my defiance. After all, your method of killing can only work on humans."

Light's head visibly shoots up in surprise. "What!? But, how do YOU know about…"

In my position, I have learned many things about this world, _Kira_," the Mysterious Minister vaguely explained, stressing on the word Kira.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Light said, still confident. "I don't exactly need you anymore." Light turns his attention to the army of Zakus on stand-by. "All Zaku units, activate every single Shadow Realm Bomb in the room!"

The Zaku army, obeying Light's command without question, about face and head for the bombs.

"What? What are you guys doing!?" the Mysterious Minister yelled in shock. He makes a mad dash across the room and defiantly blocks the Zakus' path to the bombs, surprising the heroes.

"You don't have to listen to him, guys. Besides, don't you all realize what will happen if…"

The minister trails off as all the Zaku come to a halt and look at each other, confused on what to do.

"I'm afraid it's no use," said Light. He presses down on a button, and the Zakus' "eyes" glow red before proceeding with Light's order.

"NO!" the Mysterious Minister called out before desperately tackling two Zakus that had just grabbed a Shadow Realm Bomb.

"Struggle as much as you like, minister. There's no way you'll be able to stop all of them now. While you were busy setting Shadow Realm Bombs throughout the world, I hacked into the database of the central computers on this island, and from there I was able to completely override the primary directives of the Zakus. Now, with a push of this button, they will obey only me. So as you can see, it's pointless to oppose me now," Light lectured.

"There is no way I'm allowing you to destroy my beautiful home and what is left of my people!" the Mysterious Minister determined. "I will oppose you to the bitter end!"

"And a bitter end it shall be for you. I have no further use for you anyway," Light said darkly. "Destroy him!" Light commanded the Zakus.

With their "eyes" once again glowing red, the Zaku turn to their leader and open fire. The Mysterious Minister is barraged with so many lasers coming from all sides that he ignites into flames. The heroes gasp in horror at the sight as the Zakus take the Shadow Realm Bombs and begin activating them.

Light laughs sinisterly at the still, burning body of the minister. "What's wrong, minister? Got nothing else to say?" he gloated triumphantly.

"You MONSTER!" Dark Magician lashed out. "You call killing someone who just wanted to protect his followers JUSTICE!? He may have been our enemy, but I cannot forgive this!"

"What? Oh yeah, I forgot about you guys," Light casually mentioned.

"And what're going to do us? Kill us like you killed him?" Ed asked angrily.

"That won't be necessary. With so many Shadow Realm Bombs being activated in one place, the resulting explosion will be enough to engulf the entire island," said Light.

"AAH!" Speed gasped in shock.

"None of you will be able to get clear of the blast in time. And stopping the bombs once they start should be impossible, but just to make sure you don't interfere with the countdown, I'll leave you all with parting gifts."

And with that, the hologram of Light Yagami disappears, but other creatures appear in its place. They were more Mass Monsters, but instead of the usual humanoid shaped combatants, these took the form of…

"Bats!" Sailor Moon shrieked.

"Damned bats," Ed grunted in frustration.

But to the heroes' immense pleasure, the bats mysteriously get shot down by lasers before they can reach them. Ed and the others turn to the still flaming body of the Mysterious Minister, the source of the lasers. Just at that moment, the minister casts off his robes (which somehow also puts out the fire), revealing himself to be a super deformed Gundam, modeled after the RX-78-2 Gundam.

"Huh? The Mysterious Minister is a mobile suit?" Chihiro questioned.

"You are correct, young one," the SD Gundam confirmed. "But we have to stop those bombs from detonating."

Not needing to be told twice, the heroes do everything they can to stop the Zakus, who have now activated all of the Shadow Realm Bombs in the room. Alphonse tries to pull a Zaku from its grip on a bomb, but to no avail. Speed Racer grabs one Zaku and drops him to the ground.

"Sorry to do this to you, but better handicapped than dead," Ed apologized as he claps his hands together before laying them on a Zaku. To his surprise however, nothing happens afterward. "What the!? I can't transmute him! What're these guys made out of!?"

"Gundanium Alloy," SD Gundam replied solemnly.

"What!? Never heard of it before! Quick, tell me the elements that make up Gundanium Alloy!"

"You don't need to do that, Ed. They just need to be de-brainwashed," Sailor Moon calmly chimed in. She pulls out a pink stick with a yellow crescent moon on its tip.

"**MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!!!**"

Sailor Moon holds up her Moon Stick as she moves it around her body in a circular motion while it emits a trail of glitter and mist that covers all of the Zakus in the room. However, it has absolutely no effect on them.

"NOOO, it didn't work!" Sailor Moon panicked.

SD Gundam, meanwhile, sends out a signal to his subordinates to regain control. The two nearest Zakus' "eyes" glow blue and turn their heads to the gundam, both otherwise ignore the message.

"Damn Kira! His reprogramming even blocks out the master override," SD Gundam cursed to himself.

"Hey, Mr. Minister, can't you do anything to stop them? You're their boss, they HAVE to listen to you," Chihiro pleaded with him.

"…There is nothing more I can do," SD Gundam said before hanging his head down in sorrow.

Realizing that they're out of options, Speed Racer dials something on his wrist and a symbol flashes on the visor of his helmet.

"What are you doing, Speed Racer?" asked the Dark Magician.

"Getting us out of here, that's what! C'mon, we don't have much time, ha ha!" Speed motioned everyone else as he runs toward the exit.

"Wait, we can't just leave all of those guys there!" Sailor Moon protested. "We have to save them some…" she gets cut off by Dark Magician slinging her over his shoulder and running after Speed.

"I apologize, and I greatly admire your big heart, but you're messianic ideals will not save the day this time," Dark Magician stated.

As the others follow suit, they notice that SD Gundam isn't coming with them. They turn around and see that he hasn't moved at all. Al goes back for him.

"C'mon, we have to go NOW!" Al urged the mobile suit.

"No, you guys go on ahead. They're my people; I'm going to go down with the ship," SD Gundam sulked. Plus, I need to atone for all that I've…"

"NO! I won't let you do that!" Al insisted. He grabs the SD Gundam and carries him along.

* * *

Racing through the corridors, the group of seven comes across a steep shaft.

"We're going to have jump…down there?" Sailor Moon gulped.

"Just trust me! I know what I'm doing, ha ha!" Speed reassured her.

"I sure hope you do, my badly dubbed friend," Ed added.

They all jump down the shaft, and as they fall, Speed snaps his fingers and a red and white airplane flies right below them. They land safely on top of the plane.

"Hey, this is your girlfriend Trixie's airplane, isn't it?" Chihiro asked Speed.

"Well it's a good thing you brought her plane and not the helicopter, because otherwise, we all would've been shish kabobbed by the propellers just now," Ed noted.

Speed crawls into the window of the airplane and gets into the pilot's seat. "Ok, I'm getting us all out of here! Be sure to hold on tight, ha ha!" he warned the others.

Speed Racer puts the plane into overdrive, and flies it through a tunnel, with his comrades holding on for dear life.

"Escape won't be so easy," SD Gundam warned the others. I have a powerful Red-Eyes Black Dragon that I've tasked to patrol this island".

"Fear not, for Sailor Moon and I have already defeated your guardian," Dark Magician informed him.

"Wow! You actually managed to beat BOTH of his forms?" SD Gundam asked, amazed.

"BOTH of his forms?" Dark Magician blinked.

"_**RAAAAWWWWWRRRR!!!**_"

Speeding towards them from behind at top speed is a Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon, and it looks VERY angry.

"I set things up to where if the Red-Eyes falls in battle, it will quickly rise again in a much more powerful form," SD Gundam quickly explained.

The Dark Magician rapidly fires Dark Magic Attacks at the other Duel Monster, but the attacks don't even make it flinch. The Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon finally reaches the airplane and takes a downward swipe at Dark Magician. The Dark Magician dodges but the attack nicks the tail of the plane, making it wobble.

"AAH!" Speed reacted to the shock.

When the plane readjusts itself, Chihiro throws a few Sootballs at the Red-Eyes, and they all bounce off of his thick armor.

"Oh no, they can't pierce through his skin!" Chihiro panicked.

"Then allow me to!" said Ed.

Al gives Ed a boost and throws him up at the Red-Eyes, which was now hovering just above the airplane. Ed slashes him several times with the transmuted blade on his arm, which only enrages the dragon further. Worse still, as Ed lands the blade on his arm breaks.

The Red-Eyes gathers energy in his mouth, preparing for an Inferno Fire Blast.

"Speed, watch out!" Sailor Moon warned their pilot.

"AAH!" Speed gasped, looking back at the incoming danger. He tries to steer the vehicle to the left, but the left wing gets clipped by the wall. "Oh no! This tunnel is too narrow for me to navigate the plane in, ha ha!" Speed commented.

The Red-Eyes spits out his Inferno Fire Blast. Everyone on top of the plane leaps up and avoids the blast, but the plane takes a direct hit, damaging it considerably.

"At this rate, the plane will be destroyed before we'll be able to escape!" Dark Magician distressed.

"Worst still, we're running out of time!" Ed added more bad news.

Just then, Sailor Moon holds up a chalice high above her head.

"**MOON CRISIS POWER!!!**"

The chalice opens up, covering up the senshi in a bright light. When the transformation is over, Sailor Moon's uniform was outfitted with more accessories, along with her skirt turning white with blue and yellow borders and a long white bow tied around the back of her waist. She was now Super Sailor Moon. Super Sailor Moon pulls out another pink stick, this one with a red handle, pink wings, and a small red orb at its tip.

"**MOON GORGEOUS MEDITATION!!!**"

Once again, the Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon tanks the attack launched at him.

"No fair! Why aren't my techniques working this chapter?!" Sailor Moon complained.

"Is there ANYTHING that can actually pierce that armor?" Dark Magician despaired.

"Well, there is one thing…"

"Please tell us!" Dark Magician begged SD Gundam.

The miniature mobile suit pulls out a beam rifle from hammerspace. "This beam rifle was specifically designed to take out that Red-Eyes in the event that he goes rogue. It's just…"

"…You've already lost your people and your home, and you don't want to destroy your pet, the very last connection that you still have with your civilization," Al finished, knowing what he was about to say.

The conflicted gundam lowers his head, confirming Al's words. Before anyone can object to his inaction, the Red-Eyes grabs onto the back of the airplane, pulling it down with its weight.

"He's trying to make us crash into the floor!" Al yelled.

"Are…are we going to die?" Chihiro's voice cracked with the utmost sadness and fear.

"NOT TODAY!" said SD Gundam, suddenly breaking out of his melancholy. He takes aim and fires right into the dragon's mouth, knocking it off of the plane and sending it hurling downward.

The heroes sigh in relief uneasily. Up ahead was further cause of celebration for them, as they could see light at the end of the tunnel.

Trixie's airplane escapes from the island with not a second to spare before the entire island is engulfed in a sphere of darkness. However, all was not well.

"The Isle of the Ancients…has fallen," SD Gundam said somberly as he looked back at his former home.

* * *

A/N: The Mysterious Minister, revealed as an SD Gundam, has just lost everything dear to him. But the fight must go on.

In the next chapter, all of the heroes unite and take the fight to their enemies, but not before SD Gundam sheds some light on a few matters. Until the next time.


	15. Heroes United

A/N: Yes, I'm still alive! The delay was partly due to me catching up on a few series (including me more-or-less reading the entire _Negima!_ manga), and partly due to me being distracting by a certain other crossover fighting game (which I'm highly considering starting a fic parodying the story of that game as well.)

Anyway, enjoy this (mostly filled with original content) chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 15: Heroes United**

"And just where do you think you're taking my ship!?" Seto Kaiba bellowed from across the room.

Kaiba and Huey Freeman had just gotten back to the Kaiba Craft's bridge after the battle with Sakon, and the KaibaCorp president was none too pleased at Sasuke piloting his aircraft.

"Well _someone_ had to pilot your ship and make sure it didn't crash while you two rushed off fighting," Sasuke explained in an irritated tone. "As for where we're going, I left behind a few people before I bumped into you. I'm going to pick them up before we begin our offensive. Actually, you should be very well acquainted with one of them, Kaiba."

"Oh, let me guess, Yugi Muto?" Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Sorry, but I'm not in the mood to hear about his bull about friendship and destiny, and since I'm the captain of this ship, I say we ditch those friends of yours!"

"Don't lump me with the rest of those lofty guys," Sasuke retaliated. "I severed my bonds a long time ago. To me, they're nothing but means to an end. After all, if these invaders succeed in destroying the world, I won't be able to achieve my revenge."

"My Duel Monsters and I are the only help you're going to need! Or do I have to remind you that when those overgrown ninja twins showed up, it was my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon alone that was able to defeat them!" Kaiba straight-up bullshitted.

"Funny. That's not how I remember it," Huey jumped in.

"What did you say, kid?" Kaiba asked in a threatening tone.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that if someone was REALLY conceded in this situation, they would actually allow the other heroes on board just to show them all how insignificant they really are," Huey replied in a sarcastic tone.

Kaiba places his hand on his chin, thinking about Huey's words for a few seconds. "That's it! If Yugi and his new geek squad were here, it would be the perfect opportunity to show the world and to Yugi that I'M the No.1 Duelist when I defeat all these jokers and their 'Shadow Realm' nonsense myself!" Kaiba agreed. "Glad I thought of it!"

Huey can do nothing but shake his head at the ignorance around him.

* * *

Back at Goku's and Ichigo's newly formed group, the heroes gaze upon the huge purple orb that had just consumed the floating island in the distance.

"Whoa, what was that!?" Luffy exclaimed.

"OH NO! The floating island has just been sent to the Shadow Realm, but the resulting detonate was much bigger than usual!" Yami stated the obvious.

"Hey, everyone! Look over there!" Negi pointed to an approaching aircraft. "It's Kaiba's airship!"

"So, did Kaiba succeed in retaking his ship, or are they turning around to finish us off?" Inuyasha pondered out loud, gripping the hilt of the Tetsusaiga to be on the safe side.

"Well, I don't sense anymore of those Mass things onboard," Goku informed them all.

"HA! I knew Sasuke wouldn't go down that easily!" Naruto bragged.

The Kaiba Craft 3 hovers above them all and makes a landing right in front of them.

"Goku!" Chi-Chi called as she steps out of the Kaiba Craft.

"Chi-Chi! You're okay!" Goku answered as she rushes to him before embracing.

"Well, this is a first. It looks I won't have to keep my promise this time," Naruto grinned at the reunited couple.

"Naruto?" said Sakura, now back to her normal self.

Relieved as seeing her teammate, Sakura runs over to Naruto and stops beside him while catching her breath. "Sakura, huh?" they both heard a voice coming from the Kaiba Craft. Sakura's eyes widen as she slowly turns her head around and finds Sasuke standing on top of the ship.

"Sa…su…ke," Sakura quietly mouthed.

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke turns his attention to Goku. "So you're here, too. You know, you could've just flown over to the ship and helped us."

"Yeah, but I don't want all of you to rely on me _all_ the time," Goku replied while scratching the back of his head.

"HEY! Don't ignore us, Sasuke!" Naruto demanded.

Ryo-Ohki is the next to exit the ship, and she immediately leaps into Chi-Chi's arms. Spike and Faye follow the cabbit outside.

"I wonder if those two kids escaped from the blast in time," Faye wondered aloud as she looked at the huge sphere in the sky.

"Heh, I wouldn't worry about them," Spike calmly replied with a cigarette in his mouth and both hands in his pockets.

Finally, Huey and Kaiba emerge from the air vessel. Kaiba stands in the doorway with his arms crossed.

"Alright, losers! I don't like to repeat myself, so I'm only going to say this once!" Kaiba barked.

However, Kaiba's next words are drowned out by the sound of a plane coming there way.

"Don't worry, guys! It's just me and a few friends, ha ha!" Speed Racer yelled over to the group as he lands the plane next to the Kaiba Craft.

"Hi, guys!" Al waved over to Spike and Faye from atop of the plane.

Spike responds with a smirk towards the two teenage brothers. "See? I told you that you shouldn't be worried about them," Spike muttered to Faye.

"Dark Magician! You are safe!" Yami exclaimed happily at his favorite Duel Monster.

The Dark Magician leaps off the airplane and lands in front of the King of Games. "As are you, pharaoh," the Duel Monster answered.

"So, it looks like the gang's all here then," said Yusuke.

"Not everyone," Shinji corrected him somberly. "We still haven't found Amuro."

"Nor Krillin," Goku added. "But with all of us working together, I'm sure we'll rescue them with no trouble at all".

As he says this, Ryo-Ohki leaps out of Chi-Chi's arms and hisses intensely at the SD Gundam.

"Man, it seems like Ryo-Ohki really doesn't like you. By the way, who are you?" asked Goku.

"He's…" Sailor Moon began, but the SD Gundam raises his hand, indicating her to stop.

"No, it's okay. I'll tell them," he says to her. He then turns to address the other heroes. "The truth is that all of this is my fault. I'm the one who led this invasion up until now. In other words, I'm the Mysterious Minister."

"WHAT!?" everyone other than the ones SD Gundam met earlier exclaimed.

"You've got some nerve showing your face here!" Ichigo snapped, pointing his zanpakuto at the mobile suit threateningly.

"You sent an entire stadium full of innocent people to the Shadow Realm!" Kenshin shouted.

"You stole my ship!" Kaiba spat.

"And OUR ship got wrecked because of you!" Spike added.

"You stole my Egyptian God Cards!" Yami growled.

"It's YOUR fault Amuro got captured!" Shinji yelled.

"This invasion led to some of my students getting hurt!" Negi shook his fist, desperately holding back his desire to punch SD Gundam in the face.

"Yes, I know you have every right to be pissed off at me, but I can explain." the SD Gundam pleaded.

"Oh, you can?!" Chi-Chi asked sarcastically. "Well let's hear it then, mister!"

"Kira forced him to do everything," Al interjected.

This earned loud gasps from the rest of the uninformed group.

"There's a little bit more to it than that, but yes, it's true," SD Gundam confessed. "Perhaps it's best if I start from the beginning. For many generations, my fellow super-deformed mobile suits and I lived in peace and tranquility on the Island of the Ancients. I was the leader of this civilization, where I was known as the Master Robot to my brethren. We lived in isolation with the world from below for many years, very rarely getting any outside visitors. There was this one young man, however, who I believe was named Koji Yokoi, who once visited our island, and, once he returned to the land below, produced an absolute slag-load of merchandise based in our likeness, including many toys, manga, anime, and video games. I was thinking about suing him, but…"

"I think we're getting a little off-topic here," Huey pointed out.

"Oh, sorry," SD Gundam apologized. "In spite of that, we all still lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked."

"…_**HUH!?**_" said everyone else in unison.

"Whoops, wrong reference! Well, we actually did get attacked, but by Frieza's henchmen, working together with the Rare Hunters."

"Frieza!" Goku muttered between clenched teeth.

"At least Marik has already been dealt with," Yami sighed in relief.

"And, as Al mentioned before, Kira is also aligned with them. But that's not the worst of it, I'm afraid. They all claimed that the reason why they were attacking us was because _Haruhi herself_ ordered them to!"

This revelation earned more than a few gasps and surprised looks from the other anime characters. In the Anime World of Trophies, Haruhi Suzumiya was known and worshipped by all of its denizens as the god who created their world.

"But this doesn't add up," said Kenshin, racking his brain. "It's true that Haruhi is a little eccentric, ruthless, and shows a disregard on how her behavior and actions affect others, but this doesn't sound like something she would do at all. Haruhi would never willfully wish for someone's death, let alone engineer an invasion upon an entire world, that she wouldn't."

"There's also the fact that Haruhi shouldn't even know about her powers, at least that's what the scriptures say," Negi added.

"So, are guys saying that the villains are lying?" Ichigo asked.

"Maybe. But either way, there's something more going on here," Huey theorized.

"In any case, the Zakus and I were no match for their combined forces. They held my loyal subjects hostage, and they gave me a choice: swear allegiance to the Shadow Realm Army, or watch the genocide of my people. As you can see, I had no choice but to comply with their demands. And so, with our advanced technology, my fellow mobile suits and I were subjected to creating weapons for the invasion, including the Shadow Realm Bombs and the Dark Cannons. It was also around this time when I was ordered to capture the cabbit over there."

SD Gundam points to Ryo-Ohki, who was still agitated by the former minister's presence.

Naruto scratches his head, perplexed. "But I don't get it. Why target Ryo-Ohki specifically?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda lost too," Luffy seconded.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot that I was talking to a bunch of shonen protagonists, meaning that I have to exposition EVERYTHING! Anyway, Ryo-Ohki is comprised of both alien life-forms known as Masses and Washu's egg cells. Because of this, I was tasked to capture her, extract some of the Masses inside her, mass-produce those Masses, and condition them all to be completely loyal to the Shadow Realm Army. That way, they would have a near-infinite supply of powerful and loyal soldiers at their disposal," SD Gundam explained.

"So that's why Ryo-Ohki isn't very happy to see you," Chi-Chi reasoned.

"The first order of business for the newly created Mass Monsters was to steal KaibaCorp's Kaiba Craft 3. Afterwards, it was my job to work on countermeasures for specific heroes who might try to oppose us."

"You mean like creating a false Philosopher's Stone and leading Al and I into a trap?" Ed concluded.

"Or stealing my brooch?" Sailor Moon added.

"And using me as a power source?" asked the Dark Magician.

The SD Gundam nods in acknowledgement. "For the terrible crimes I committed against this world, as well as for being unable to save my comrades, I disguised myself as the Mysterious Minister in shame. In spite of my cooperation, however, Kira still betrayed me. He reprogrammed all of the Zakus and made them detonate all of the Shadow Realm Bombs we had left, leading to the destruction of my people, my home, and my entire culture. And that's how I'm with you all here now."

The others remain silent for awhile. They were too shocked, saddened, and angered by the story they just heard. Even Ryo-Ohki stopped hissing.

Finally, Goku approaches the gundam and places a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"You may have done a lot of bad things in the past, but now I see that it wasn't your fault."

SD Gundam widens his eyes in disbelief.

"Yeah, you had to do what you did to save your friends. You're not a bad guy," Chihiro chimed in.

"I believe in second chances, so how about it, guys?" Sailor Moon inquired to the rest of the group.

The other characters give out cheers and nods, showing their approval, although a few were more reluctant than others.

"T…Thank you, guys," said SD Gundam, fighting tears.

"Well, now that that's settled, what do we do now?" asked Asuna.

"I say we take the fight to them, and make them PAY for what they've done!" Goku exclaimed, shaking a fist in anger. He then turns to Kaiba. "However, we'll need this airship of yours for transportation. I hate to ask, but do you mind helping us?"

Kaiba gives a big sigh. "Whatever," he muttered. Kaiba knows that it isn't wise to argue with a Saiyan.

"Alright, then. Here's what we're going to do," he started as the whole group gathers into a huddle.

* * *

A/N: Join us in the next chapter, when the heroes begin their assault on the Shadow Realm Army.


	16. Into the Shadow Realm

A/N: Yeah, I pretty much got lazy. -_- But to make up for it, this will be the longest chapter yet.

Also, I'm switching to writing in past tense for the rest of the story. I'm finding writing in present tense to be too much of a drag. (Not sure why I even decided to do that anyway.)

* * *

**Chapter 16: Into the Shadow Realm**

Above the ocean was the huge dark sphere in the sky that had earlier engulfed the Isle of the Ancients. Suddenly, an unfathomably large futuristic-looking airship, armed with a slender, tank-like cannon on the front and several turrets stationed on top, emerged from the sphere. The main cannon gathered a ball of purple energy for a few seconds before it fired towards the horizon. The blast landed somewhere on shore, resulting in a similar reaction to a Shadow Realm Bomb igniting, but on a much grander scale. In one fell swoop, the remaining inland of the Anime World of Trophies was sent to the Shadow Realm. Standing on a small platform atop of the battleship was none other than Frieza and Light.

"Ha, ha, ha! This is stupendous!" Frieza laughed evilly. "So THIS is the power of Haruhi's secret weapon!"

"That's right. And all it took to bring it out into this world was to destroy all those mobile suits and their pathetic little island," Light gloated.

Frieza chuckles to himself in amusement. "And they call ME ruthless. If you humans weren't so weak, I'd hire you as a part of my organization."

Light glared at the midget tyrant. "Don't lump me with the likes of you! I'm doing this for the betterment of mankind!" Light replied in delusion.

"Sure you are," the alien said in sarcasm. "Sheesh! At least I'm honest about being evil!"

Before the two villains could continue their argument, a familiar aircraft headed their way at top speed caught their attention.

Light gave off an evil smirk in amusement. "So, it appears that Kaiba has reclaimed his little blimp. No matter, he may be one of the big men on campus when it comes to a children's card game, but here, he's just a fish out of water."

With a simple motion of his arm, Light commanded the cannon's turrets to open fire on the Kaiba Craft 3. A few shots graced the Kaiba Craft on the sides, but that didn't stop the airship from advancing. However, the next shot fired straight through the whole ship, which caused it to fragment into pieces before it exploded violently.

"Just as planned," Light grinned in triumph.

But his gloating was cut short when he and Frieza both notice that several smaller vehicles emerged from the explosion. Amongst them being Trixie's airplane, the Red Tail, the Flying Nimbus, a Blue-Eyes White Dragon shaped jet, and Ryo-Ohki in her spaceship form, as well as Goku flying by himself.

Light snarled in disbelief. "But…the plan!"

"Well, well. Look at the all-powerful Kira now that his plans are unraveling," Frieza openly mocked.

"If you weren't an alien, I'd kill you with the Death Note right here and now!" Light threatened.

Meanwhile, at the heroes…

"NOOOOOO! MY KAIBA CRAFT!" Kaiba yelled from the pilot seat of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon shaped jet. He turned his head over to Goku, who was flying right beside the jet. "Hey, Saiyan, you said my ship would be fine!"

Goku stroked his chin with a finger. "No, I'm pretty sure I said it would be fine as a distraction."

"Why, you little-!"

"Oh please, Kaiba! You can just make another one, you have money!" Yusuke interrupted from the backseat of the dragon-shaped jet.

Back at the gunship, Light again motioned the cannon turrets to shoot. Unfortunately for him, the smaller ships were much harder to hit, and they all maneuvered through the firings with ease.

The combatants inside Ryo-Ohki (which consisted of most of the heroes) rocked back and forth as the cabbit avoided the blasts.

"Will you stop moving around so much? We're getting whiplash over here!" Asuna yelled to the person piloting Ryo-Ohki.

"I'm trying to stop us from getting shot down here! And I really don't know what I'm doing here! This is NOTHING like piloting an Eva!" Shinji shouted back from Ryo-Ohki's pilot seat. Gripped in his hands were two spheres suspended in midair, functioning as some sort of steering wheel. "Sheesh, she's starting to remind me of someone I know," Shinji muttered to himself.

Asuna then took out her pactio card and applied it directly to her forehead. "OK, Negi-sensei! Anytime now!" she communicated telepathically to her teacher.

After hearing Asuna's call, something flew down from the sky toward the Shadow Realm Gunship; it was Negi riding his staff, with Kenshin also on board. Frieza and Light didn't notice, as they're busy being distracted by the other ships.

"Alright, Kenshin, it's now or never!" said Negi.

Kenshin sprung off of Negi's staff with his sword outstretched in front of him.

"**HITEN MITSURUGI-STYLE:** **KUZU-RYUSEN!**"

Kenshin cut clean through the gigantic battleship, somehow attacking it in nine different places simultaneously.

Light and Frieza struggled to maintain balance as the Shadow Realm Gunship broke apart around them. "How? Seriously, _HOW?_" Light uttered in disbelief.

"I knew I should've destroyed this planet when I had the chance!" Frieza tried to yell over the sound of the explosions. He then turned to his partner. "Well, I hope you have a backup plan for this!"

"Who do you think you're talking to, Frieza? I ALWAYS have a plan!"

And with that, Light retreated into the portal to the Shadow Realm. Frieza hesitated momentarily before following suit.

"Alright! We have them on the run now," Negi observed from his staff. "Now I just need to pick up Kenshin."

As he said this, Kenshin landed on a small stepping stone in the ocean, halting his fall. Using the stone as leverage, Kenshin launched himself into the air, and, in a single bound, leaped hundreds of feet into the air and entered the Shadow Realm portal without any assistance.

Negi's mouth hung in awe for a moment before any words could come to him. "That. Was. AWESOME! It's like he's from a COMPLETELY different manga!" In all of the excitement, it took a few seconds before the young mage realized the obvious. "Oh yeah, that's right. He IS from another manga!"

Negi pursued the former manslayer into the darkness. The other heroes weren't too far behind, and they all entered the giant sphere just as the Shadow Realm Gunship collapsed completely.

* * *

All of the heroes were gathered together in the Shadow Realm. They couldn't see anything but a thick fog of darkness ahead of them.

"So, this is the Shadow Realm," said Alphonse.

"Stay focused. If we defeat whoever is behind all of this, our world should go back to the way it was, that it should," Kenshin stated.

"Yes, but we must do this quickly. Not everyone can survive in the Shadow Realm for long," Yami warned his companions.

Luffy cracked his knuckles, eagerly awaiting the coming battle. "So what are we waiting for?"

"For all of the people that have been sent here, and for all of my people who have lost their lives…" SD Gundam chanted.

"IT'S REVOLUTION TIME!" Huey finished.

* * *

Further into the Shadow Realm, Frieza and Light walked towards the edge of a cliff.

"So THIS is your plan? Us running with our tails between our legs and begging Haruhi to help us?" Frieza complained.

"No, but a criminal like you needn't concern yourself about my plans anymore," Light snickered.

"Oh, and why is th-AAH!" Frieza was cut off by Light shooting him in the back with a Dark Cannon. Frieza resisted the effects of the Dark Cannon just long enough to turn around and see Light stare at him with evil red eyes.

"Light…Yagami…" Frieza said weakly before becoming a trophy.

Light examined the weapon he had just used. "Well, it's no Death Note, but it'll have to do against nonhumans."

Ryuk laughed at Light's display of cruelty. "Looks like things are finally getting interesting here! So I take it that even after witnessing her power, you were never really loyal to Haruhi afterall?"

"Of course not, Ryuk," Light stated calmly. He kicked the Frieza trophy aside and casually continued walking towards the cliff. "Like I would ever willingly work with a tyrant like Frieza, who has terrorized countless planets. Someone like him has no place a world ruled by Kira. And I'll never forget the humiliation I received from that Haruhi!" Light gritted his teeth at the mere memory of the incident.

"I feel a flashback coming on," Ryuk lampshaded.

* * *

_Several days earlier_

"Who are you! Where are you taking me!" Light demanded.

"Stop struggling and you'll find out soon! Or do you want me to turn you into my mind slave!" Marik spat back.

The Egyptian was dragging the reluctant Death Note owner to the same cliff that Light and Ryuk were in the present. Awaiting the two upon their arrival were Frieza and a very impatient Haruhi.

"You're late! Penalty!" Haruhi angrily pointed at Marik.

"Well I would've been here sooner if he didn't resist so much!" Marik argued.

Haruhi then took a look at Marik's company. "WHAT! You DARE bring Light to my lair? **YOU MUST DIE!**"

"But, you ORDERED me to bring him here!" Marik pleaded.

"Yeah, I know. I just always wanted to say that," Haruhi laughed.

But Light was not amused. "Will someone please explain to me what's going on here!"

"Oh, don't worry, Kira. I'm going to explain everything in a second," Haruhi said casually.

Light blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about? I'm not Kira. I'm just a regular student concerned about his studies," Light lied flawlessly.

"Oh cut the crap, Light! I know you're Kira and I know all about the Death Note!" Haruhi countered. She looked to Light's side, her gaze fixated on nothing immediately apparent to the outside observer. She then waved her hand. "Hi, Ryuk!" she greeted.

"Ooh, it seems she can see me," Ryuk said, intrigued.

"But HOW?" Light lamented. "_Did she touch the Death Note somehow?_" he thought to himself.

"No," she stated flatly, somehow reading Light's thoughts. "I am simply so much more powerful than the shinigami that I am not bound by the rules of their petty little Death Notes of theirs."

Light snarled at the cocky teenager. "Just who the hell are you anyway!"

"I am Haruhi Suzumiya, God of this world!" she announced proudly.

The declaration got a laugh out of Light.

"Pardon?" said Haruhi, annoyed.

"I think you're a little mistaken, little girl. There's only one god of this world, and that's Kira!" Light explained.

One puff of smoke later, Light was suddenly transformed into a dog or something. Ryuk, Marik, and Frieza are completely incapable of containing their laughter at the sight of Light's new makeover.

"Do you want me to further demonstrate my power?" Haruhi asked darkly.

Light whimpered and yielded in a submissive position in defeat. The laughs from the others got even louder.

"OK, now that that's taken care of, it's time to reveal why I've summoned you three here."

"Yes, do tell. We're dying to know," Frieza finally spoke.

"Alright. In a nutshell, I'm kinda bored, so I decided that things might get more interesting around here if I send this entire world into the Shadow Realm."

Marik's eyes light up in interest. "Sending the world into the Shadow Realm? Count me in! I can't wait to hear all those cries of anguish!"

But Frieza wasn't quite as enthusiastic. "Now don't get me wrong, I'd love to see all the weakling humans on this planet suffer eternally, but destruction without death bores me." Frieza stated as he turned around to leave.

"Does the prospect of exacting revenge on a certain Super Saiyan and all of his loved ones interest you?"

The alien stopped in his tracks. "I'm listening."

"I'm willing to reward all of you handsomely for your services. Whatever your desires are, I can make it happen. That is, IF you help me." The melancholic teen turned to the transformed Light and snapped her fingers. An instant later, Light reverted back to normal. "So how about it, Kira? Join my cause?"

"If I refuse, will you force me to do it anyway?"

"Yep!" Haruhi admitted with no shame.

Light sighed loudly. "Fine! I'll join your little group!" Light grudgingly accepted.

"Yay!" Haruhi jumped up and down in excitement, behaving like the teen that she was. "The Shadow Realm Army is now born! With my god-like powers, Frieza's strength, Light's brilliant mind, and Marik's bat-shit insanity working as one, there's no one who can stop us!"

"Except me," Light muttered under his breath.

* * *

Back at the present, Light and Ryuk were now at the edge of the cliff.

"So, what's your plan?" Ryuk asked curiously.

"Well, I've been doing some research on that silly children's card game, and I discovered something rather interesting. It's possible, by sorcery, to drag a simple game of Duel Monsters into the Shadow Realm to initiate what is known as a Shadow Game. Once that happens, the challenger creates a set of rules that both duelists must abide by. Any attempt at breaking these established rules by either duelist results in the Shadow Realm dealing a severe karmic punishment to the cheater." The genius smiled evilly in satisfaction, knowing that everything was going according to his plan.

Light continued his long-winded explanation. "That fool Haruhi thought she was using me, but the truth is, I've been using _her_ all of this time! With her assistance, the entire world has been engulfed into the Shadow Realm. And those so-called heroes who oppose Kira's rule foolishly followed me into this place. Now, no one will be unaffected once I take over this realm and turn the entire Shadow Realm itself into a Shadow Game, where all must obey the laws set out by Kira, lest they suffer the consequences. Of course, I'll need to seek out and manipulate the creator of the Shadow Realm, Zorc Necrophades, in order for my plans to see fruition. But all of that is phase two of my plan. I just need to tie a few loose ends of phase one first."

Light outstretched his arms to his sides. "Haruhi! I am in need of your assistance! Our enemies will be here any minute now!" Light feigned.

Haruhi, answering his call, appeared before Light. She looked annoyed at being called out. "I guess I should've known that you just can't find good help these da…Help me, Light!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh?" That sudden outburst caught Light off-guard. "What're trying to pull, Haruhi?" he asked suspiciously.

"Look behind me, you idiot! In case you haven't noticed, I'm being enslaved from beyond dimensions!"

It was only then when Light noticed that there were five strings attached to Haruhi, controlling her like a puppet. He looked further back and saw the one who was literally pulling her strings. It was a man with spiky green hair and a purple left eye, wearing blue pants, a jacket, and a red shirt underneath it. Several purple horn-like things protruded from his forehead, with most (and the longest ones) being above his purple eye.

"And just who the hell are you?" Light demanded.

"Z0001332536893. But that's kinda long, so you can just call me Z, and I must thank you, Frieza, and Marik for all of your assistance into bringing this world into the Shadow Realm. I guess you can say that everything went _just as planned_!" the figure answered.

"What! You mean _I_ was the one being manipulated?" Light's confusion soon gave way to anger. "No one manipulates me OR steals my favorite phrase and lives!"

The Death Note owner impulsively pulled out a scythe and jumped up at Z, preparing to slice him in half, but Z effortlessly blasted him out of the sky. Light fell on Haruhi on the way down, tearing her off of the strings in the process, and they both slam into the ground hard. Haruhi weakly stood up.

"How dare you treat the leader of the SOS Brigade in such a matter! I hereby challenge you!" Haruhi declared before launching herself at Z with her legs outstretched. "It's time for a **CROWNING MOMENT OF AWESOME!**" she invoked.

A forcefield surrounding Z suddenly appeared, blocking Haruhi's dropkick and propelling her back to the ground.

"Indeed," Z agreed.

Upon impact on the ground, Haruhi laid limp and motionless.

The heroes, led by Goku, arrived right at that moment.

Chihiro gasped in horror. "Haruhi! Is she…dead?"

Light was next to Haruhi, squirming and swimming in a pool of his own blood. "Kill him! Kill him! KILL HIM!" Light pleaded before finally succumbing to trophization.

The others looked up and noticed Z. "So you must be the final boss!" said Asuna, readying herself for battle.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Z admitted proudly.

Goku took a step forward. "Our world. Millions of innocent people. SD Gundam's entire race. They're all gone because of your doing! You'll PAY for all the wrongs you've committed!"

Goku powered up to his Super Saiyan 3 form, causing his hair to turn gold and grow down past his waist, as well as his eyebrows to disappear completely. Goku rushed forward ready to attack Z, but Z countered with a simple slap, which was enough to slam Goku into the ground so hard that it created a huge crater. A cloud of dust kicked up and completely obscured everyone's view of Goku.

"Goku! Are you okay?" Sailor Moon called out to him in concern.

"Oh, don't worry, this type of thing happens ALL THE TIME in Dragonball Z," Yusuke reassured her. "Once the dust clears up, we'll see that Goku is completely unharmed."

When the dust did clear up, Goku was unconscious and reverted back to trophy form.

Yusuke retracted his statement. "_**FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCK!**_"

"WE'RE DOOMED!" Yami yelled out epically. "If he was able defeat GOKU with a mere gesture, than what hope do we have of defeating him?"

"You don't defeat me, that's what. And don't worry about your world. I'll put all the pieces back together, making it good as new. But you all will have to die once," Z answered.

Five wings made out of pure energy materialized behind Z. The Light Hawk Wings then began gathering energy for a powerful attack.

"Here it comes!" Ichigo braced himself.

"AAH!" gasped Speed Racer.

Before anyone could react, the Light Hawk Wings released a fast and powerful wave of energy that sent the remaining fighters into the air like thrown ragdolls.

"Oh, shit! He even got me-!" Ryuk managed to say before being turning into a trophy.

One by one, the rest of the heroes all reverted back to their trophy forms. They laid there motionless as Z gathered the pieces of the world to himself. He then moved a flight of stairs to the edge of the cliff, providing a pathway to the cluster of spheres.

"And with that, all of your nightmare's are over," Z said to the idle fighters.

And with a motion of his hand, all of the trophies were randomly scattered throughout the Shadow Realm.

The heroes failed in their mission.


	17. Itachi's Gambit

A/N: Yep, yet another long delay between chapters. To be honest, I've had my mind on other projects, (and not to mention that some real-life stuff got in the way for a little while) so I'm going to finally get off my ass and finish this since I'm so close to the end. Rest assured, I will finish this fanfic.

* * *

**Chapter 17: Itachi's Gambit**

All was quiet in the Shadow Realm. The world's heroes, despite uniting and making a valiant effort to stop the Shadow Realm Army, were defeated easily by Z, the true mastermind behind the entire invasion. With all of the world's denizens in a lifeless trophy state, all hope seemed lost for the Anime World of Trophies.

Within the Shadow Realm stood Itachi's hideout, still in rubble after Frieza and his henchmen's siege. Krillin, Amuro, and Itachi lay dormant in their trophy forms, seemingly doomed to remain in that state for all eternity.

That is, until the brooches placed on Krillin and Amuro shone brightly, enveloping the two in a bright light. As the light died down, the two rose up, alive and rejuvenated.

"Ugh, my head!" Krillin groaned, rubbing his head. "Did I really just get killed for 24 hours straight, or did I just dream that?"

But Amuro was too fixated on the brooch attached to Krillin's forehead to answer. "Hey, what's that?"

Amuro reached for the brooch and yanked it off Krillin with a hard tuck.

"Ow! Be careful, will ya?" Krillin complained.

Amuro examined the brooch in his hand closely. "This brooch is shaped like the Uchiha Clan insignia." He looked over to his side. "And Itachi Uchiha is right over there."

"Yeah, that's the guy who attacked me!" said Krillin. "I say we leave him and get out of here!"

"But if we were both in our trophy state until just now, then _something_ must have revived us. Since we're the only ones here, it doesn't look like anyone else tapped our stands. And we were both wearing these strange brooches, so I can only assume that they were what brought us back to life," Amuro reasoned.

"So you're saying Itachi beat us up and captured us, only to place those brooches on us so that we can revive later? That doesn't make any sense at all!"

"Either way, I want some answers."

And without further argument, Amuro tapped Itachi's stand, reviving the prodigy ninja. Waking up in a stir, Itachi opened his eyes to see Amuro and Krillin looking down on him.

"So it appears that my plan was a success," Itachi said as he pulled himself up from the floor.

"What plan? You better start talking, pal!" Krillin demanded.

"Yes, I do suppose you need an explanation as to why I abducted you and placed those brooches on you," Itachi calmly replied. "It all started a few days before the invasion started…"

* * *

_A few days earlier_

Seto Kaiba sat in his office at KaibaCorp Headquarters, diligently typing away at his laptop. His uneventful workday was soon interrupted, however, when a boy with black hair, blue eyes, and wearing a yellow vest and a blue-striped shirt barged into the room.

"Seto! We got trouble!" yelled Kaiba's younger brother, Mokuba.

"What is it THIS time?" Kaiba grunted, obviously annoyed.

"Someone's broken into the hangar! I think he's after the Kaiba Craft! The guards are fighting him as we speak, but he's easily overpowering them!"

"Someone must have a lot of nerve attacking KaibaCorp Headquarters directly!" Kaiba rose from his chair. "But they'll soon realize the error of their ways after I crush them in a duel!"

The Kaiba brothers rushed as fast as they could to the KaibaCorp Hangar. As they arrived, true to form, Itachi was making short work of the security staff. Piles of guards turned into trophies littered the floor.

"Stop!" Kaiba ordered his remaining guards. "You're no match for him!" His employees stepped aside to allow their boss to approach the Uchiha. "I am Seto Kaiba, president of this company! What business do you have breaking into my headquarters?" he demanded.

"Ah, yes, Seto Kaiba," Itachi turned to face the KaibaCorp CEO. "I am with the Akatsuki, and we have taken in interest in your Kaiba Craft 3. I will surely allow our search for the Jinchuuriki to become much easier. And we shall have it."

Kaiba angrily brandished his Duel Disk. "Well, if you plan on stealing from me, you're going to have to defeat me in a duel first!"

Itachi merely cocked an eyebrow for a moment before throwing a kunai in Kaiba's face, which instantly reverted him to trophy form.

"BIG BROTHER! You'll pay for that!" Mokuba rushed at the rouge ninja.

Itachi looked down at the younger Kaiba brother in mild annoyance before simply kicking him aside, which was enough to knock him into trophy state.

"Shut up, Mokuba!"

The Uchiha turned to face the Kaiba Craft 3, only to find himself suddenly enclosed by a group of Mass Monsters. Behind the crowd, several more Mass Monsters were boarding the blimp's gondola through the windows.

"Are these Masses? I've never heard of such behavior from these creatures," Itachi thought to himself in an unconcerned tone.

* * *

"So then what happened?" Krillin asked in eager suspense.

"At that point, I had little choice but to engage them. I was victorious, of course, but the other group of Masses that snuck onto the Kaiba Craft had already gotten away, along with the airship, by the time I was finished. However, I was able to probe into the collective minds of the Masses that I defeated with my Sharingan. And that was when I saw him," Itachi explained.

"Saw who?" Amuro and Krillin both asked in unison.

"The one commanding the corrupted Masses, as well as the true mastermind of this entire invasion…Z."

"Well, I don't know who this Z character is, but I'm sure Goku will take care of him," Krillin crossed his arms and nodded confidently.

"You don't understand!" Itachi uncharacteristically shouted. "Z has _Light Hawk Wings_, our universe's manifestation of the energy of a being that's even greater than our own god! And he has _**FIVE OF THEM!**_ He can destroy the entire Dragonball Z universe with just a breath if he wanted to!"

"Oh…um…damn." was all Krillin could say in response.

"Z has been manipulating the other villains and Haruhi all along, all for the purpose of sending our world into the Shadow Realm. I do not know his reasons for it, but I did know that I had to counteract his plan in some way," Itachi continued.

"And I take these brooches had something to do with it?" Amuro guessed.

"That would be correct. The Uchiha Brooches that you hold are designed to revive any fallen warrior after a certain period of time has passed. My plan was to defeat any strong warrior I come across and to equip each of them with a brooch set to activate after my projected time for when Z uses his Light Hawk Wings on everyone else."

"Oh, I get it. Use the brooches to revive a few people after Z thinks he's won, we revive everyone else, and then we all take Z by surprise, is that it?" Amuro reasoned.

Itachi nodded. "Essentially, I was creating an ace in the hole in case the others fail to defeat Z on their own." Itachi looked up at the dark sky above them. "And it seems that my plan was needed after all."

Krillin stood with his arms folded, deep in thought for a moment before speaking again. "Well, that's a lot to take in. I'm not sure if you're telling the truth or not, but I guess I have no choice but to trust you. But I'm keeping my eye on you."

"By all means, 'keep your eye on me.' I can assure you that everything I have said is truthful. Now we must make haste."

And with that, Itachi led the way out of his hideaway.

* * *

As the unlikely trio stepped out of the castle, Amuro and Krillin gasped at the thick fog of darkness that surrounded them.

"So, _this_ is the Shadow Realm?" Krillin looked around nervously.

"Stay alert. We have company," Itachi pointed to an incoming trio of Mass Monsters heading their way.

Amuro blasted the leading Mass Monster with his beam rifle as the remaining two leaped towards Krillin and Itachi.

"**DESTRUCTRO DISK!**"

"**FIRE STYLE: FIREBALL JUTSU!**"

The remaining Mass Monsters were sliced and burned, respectively, causing them to dissolve. Itachi, Krillin, and Amuro continue onward, and in less than a minute, they found a trophy.

"It's Sailor Moon!" Amuro yelled. He quickly revived the fallen magical girl.

"Ugh, it feels like I was knocked out for a whole YEAR!" Sailor Moon groaned. She then looked at the "camera" accusingly.

* * *

After a long trek across the land, and with many enemy encounters in between, Itachi, Krillin, Amuro, and Sailor Moon managed to find and revitalize Yusuke, Faye, Shinji, Ichigo, Alphonse, Yami Yugi, Dark Magician, Inuyasha, Spike, Chihiro, Ryo-Ohki, Edward, Speed Racer, and Goku.

The greatly expanded group stood in front of Haruhi, who laid still in front of the stairs Z created.

Amuro was horrified at the sight. "Man, when you said that this Z guy was powerful, you weren't kidding! I didn't think anyone was capable of doing THAT to Haruhi!"

Krillin, however, was focused on the trophy not too far from her.

"Oh, look, it's Frieza!" Krillin sneered.

"Indeed it is," said Itachi as he walked over to the fallen villain.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"In order to defeat Z, we need all the help we can get," Itachi explained before tapping Frieza's stand. After a brief flash of light, Frieza shot up to his feet, not in the best of moods.

"LIGHT YAGAMI! HE'LL **PAY** FOR BACKSHOOTING ME!"

"Calm down, Frieza. We have bigger things to worry about," Itachi replied.

"Calm down? You presume to order me around? You must want to meet your family soon!" Frieza threatened before getting into a fighting stance.

"Oh no! I knew this was a bad idea! Now we're going to have to fight Frieza again!" Krillin cowered.

However, Itachi, undeterred, looked at Frieza right in the eyes and said "**TSUKUYOMI!**"

* * *

The next thing Frieza knew, he was back on Planet Namek, fighting Super Saiyan Goku. The white alien looked around in confusion.

"Huh? How did I get back on this dirtball, and why am I fighting this monkey again?" Frieza grunted.

"For the next 72 hours, you will relive all of your defeats," Frieza heard Itachi's voice from inside his head.

"What! What do you mean?" Frieza demanded.

"Hey! Look out behind you!" Goku warned him. "Get down, now!"

But Frieza only had enough time to look over his shoulder before being horizontally sliced in half by his own technique, a stray homing variation of the Destructo Disk that he used earlier in the fight.

"My own attack…AGAIN!" was all Frieza could utter before hitting the ground.

* * *

Now Frieza was in a rocky area on Earth, with the mechanical enhancements he received after his defeat on Namek.

"WHAT IS GOING **ON** HERE?" Frieza yelled in annoyance.

"**BURNING ATTACK!**"

Frieza turned around and saw a Super Saiyan wearing grey pants, a black shirt, a Capsule Corp jacket, and a sword sheath tied around his torso standing on a nearby cliff, firing a ki blast at him.

The half-mechanical villain flew into the air, avoiding the blast. "When I get my hands on…HUH?"

And before Frieza could even react, he was vertically cut in half by Future Trunks. As Frieza's vision literally split in half, he again heard Itachi's voice say, "One second down, 71 hours and 59 seconds to go."

"Wha-?" Frieza began, but was cut off by Trunks chopping him into a million pieces and blasting him away.

* * *

For what Frieza endured for 72 hours, only an instant had passed in real-time. Frieza fell over, back in trophy form.

"Now, let's try this again," Itachi said before tapping Frieza's stand for the second time.

"LIGHT YAGAMI! HE'LL **PAY** FOR BACKSHOOTING ME!" Frieza repeated.

Itachi sighed. "I'm going to slap some sense into you." He then proceeded to bitch-slap Frieza across the face continuously.

"OH YEAH! GIVE IT TO 'EM, ITACHI!" Krillin cheered from the sidelines. Everyone else gave Krillin weird looks.

The prodigy ninja finally relented in his attacks, and Frieza backed up, covering his face since it was in intense pain. "Hey! What's your problem?" Frieza yelled.

Itachi pointed over to his left side. "THAT'S my problem!" Itachi answered.

Frieza turned to where Itachi was pointing and finally noticed Haruhi's body and the flight of stairs. "H-Haruhi? Unbelievable! I've seen her power for myself, and, as much as it loathes me to say it, her powers surpass even my own! So who managed to take her out?" Frieza said through gritted teeth in a mixture of both amazement and anger at the thought of someone else being vastly more powerful than him.

"It was a being who calls himself Z. He was controlling Haruhi the entire time, manipulating all of you from the shadows like puppets on a string," Itachi replied.

The alien tyrant clenched his fist. "A puppet, you say? NO ONE controls Lord Frieza like a puppet!"

"And since we share a common and powerful enemy, our best chance at beating him is through cooperation," said Itachi.

"It makes my skin crawl just looking at you, Frieza, but it looks like the only way out of this is if we team up," Krillin added while glaring at one of his killers.

Frieza crossed his arms and gave off a confident smirk. "Hmm. Alright, fine! I'll help you. You weaklings are going to need all the help you can get."

Not a second later, Goku teleported right in front of Frieza, so close that he was invading his personal space. "Alright! So you FINALLY decided to give up your evil ways and become a good person!" the Saiyan exclaimed.

"Hey, I never said that, you damn dirty ape! As soon as this Z character is taken care of, I'm going to go right back to killing all of you!" Frieza threatened.

"And we wouldn't want it any other way, Frieza," Krillin said sarcastically. "C'mon guys, we still have half of our friends to save."

And with that, the group set out into the yet unexplored areas of the Shadow Realm to find their remaining allies.

* * *

A/N: Find out what happens to the not yet revived fighters on the next chapter of the Shadow Realm Emissary. It won't take me 364 days to update, I promise. :)


	18. The Other Heroes

A/N: Just one more chapter and an epilogue after this. YAY!

* * *

**Chapter 18: The Other Heroes**

Elsewhere in the Shadow Realm, Kenshin laid inactive in trophy state…until a bright light covered his body. When the light dimed out, Kenshin was reawakened.

"I see," the red-haired swordsman said as he rose to his feet. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the Uchiha Brooch that he found earlier. "This fell off of Miss Chi-Chi after Frieza gave us the slip. I don't know what Itachi was planning, but regardless of his intentions, it would seem that circumstances have allowed us a second chance to fight, that it has." Kenshin looked around for signs of life, but all was quiet and lifeless around him. "I just need to find and revive everyone else."

And with that, the former manslayer pocketed the brooch and wandered into the abyss of the Shadow Realm in search for his comrades.

* * *

As Kenshin trekked through the realm, he ran into plenty of opposition, of which he made short work of. Through his efforts, it wasn't long before Chi-Chi, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, Luffy, SD Gundam, Negi, Asuna, and Huey were all recovered and revived.

As the group spread out a little to find the remaining fighters, Huey found himself looking over Marik's trophy.

"I'm probably going to regret this, but…" Huey said to himself before tapping Marik's trophy.

"AH, HA, HA, HA, HA! You were a fool to revive me, boy! And now if you excuse me, there are a couple of people I need to torment!" Marik taunted before running off.

"Yep, definitely regretting it," Huey reaffirmed his own belief.

* * *

Sasuke, meanwhile, had just stumbled upon Light's trophy.

"Wonder who this guy is?" Sasuke pondered aloud.

But before the ninja could do anything else, a VERY angry Frieza stormed right in front of him and kicked the trophy, sending it flying through the air. Not ending it there, Frieza flew past Light as he was still soaring and intercepted him, knocking him back in the other direction. Frieza repeated this process a few times, essentially playing a game of tennis ball with himself, before finally tail whipping Light into the ground with enough force to make a small crater. Having his frustrations vented out, the alien tyrant walked away while muttering "Shoot me in the back, eh? NO ONE shoots Lord Frieza in the back!"

Sasuke simply shrugged at the sight. "I guess some people just can't control their hatred."

And then Sasuke turned around and laid his eyes on none other than Itachi.

"Itachi!" Sasuke growled. The younger Uchiha reached for his sword, but Itachi closed the distance between them in an instant and grabbed his hand.

"Foolish little brother. We're going to have to play some other time," Itachi said simply as he drug his brother by the hand, with Sasuke sporting a massively confused look on his face.

* * *

Not long after Sasuke and Itachi left, Naruto and Sakura came across Light's trophy.

"Who's this guy?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, but we better help him out." Sakura tapped Light's stand, reviving the Death Note owner.

"Ugh, my head!" Light groaned as he rubbed his forehead. His eyes then widened as he remembered what happened to him. He turned to the two ninjas and yelled, "Quick! Do either of you have a pen?"

Confused as to why Light asked that question, Naruto nevertheless pulled out his back pouch and dug through its contents. "I don't think I have a pen. All I have in here are my kunais."

With a swift hand motion, Light snatched a kunai from Naruto's hand and pricked his own finger on it. As blood drew from the digit, Light took out a black notebook labeled "Death Note", turned to an empty page, and wrote "Z0001332536893" with his own blood.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what're you doing?"

Light turned to face the cluster of orbs atop the stairs. "I take it that's where Z is right now?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, but I don't see…"

"Don't worry. It'll all be over in 40 seconds," Light assured them while sporting his trademark evil grin.

_40 seconds later…_

"DAMMIT! He didn't die!"

Naruto and Sakura just looked at each other, unsure of what the man they just saved was trying to do. They then turned back to Light. "Just what were you trying to do, anyway?" Sakura asked.

"I'll tell you what he was trying to do!"

The two ninjas about faced and saw SD Gundam and Sasuke behind them, with the former clutching on to his beam rifle, his hand shaking from barely repressed rage, and the latter standing with his arms folded.

"He was trying to write Z's name in his Death Note so he could kill him from afar, just like he does to every convicted criminal he hears about!" SD Gundam continued.

"Killing convicted criminals?" Naruto asked as he and Sakura both looked back at Light. "Hey, wait a minute! Are you saying that this guy is Kira?"

Everyone remained silent, waiting for Light to respond. At first, all they hear is snickering. The snickering soon evolved seamlessly into laughter, and not long after that, Light tilted his head up into the air, performing the most EPIC evil laugh _EVER_! Everyone else was suitably freaked out.

With his body still turned to the side, Light faced his current company, his iris' inexplicitly glowing red. "That's right. I am Kira."

"You're also the one who killed all of my people!" SD Gundam pointed his beam rifle at Light threateningly.

"And I suppose you want to kill me for what I did to those '_precious little friends_' of yours?" Light asked mockingly.

SD Gundam thought about it. "…No. As much as I hate you for what you've done, revenge isn't the answer." SD Gundam immediately glances over to Sasuke.

"What?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

"And aside from that, whether any of us like it or not, the only way any of us are going to defeat Z is if we all work together, so come on!" SD Gundam gestured Light to follow.

SD Gundam led the way to the stairs, with Naruto and Sasuke following suit. "Wait up, guys. We'll be right there," Sakura called out to the others.

Light wondered what she meant by that statement until, right when the two of them were alone, she faced him, not looking too happy.

"We all know that you've deluded yourself into thinking that you're '_the new God of this world_,' and you think that gives you the right to kill whoever you want to, but let me tell you something. You better not be hatching some kind of scheme in that mind of yours, because if I notice even the slightest suspicious action out of you, any reason at all to suspect you may be planning on betraying us, and you won't have to worry about justice anymore, because I will make sure your brand of justice will end right then and there. Permanently!" And with that, Sakura left a visibly shaken Light to catch up with the others.

"Whoa! She's scary!" Light heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"So, where've you been?" Light asked Ryuk.

"As much as I'm embarrassed to admit this, I was trophified by that Z guy along with everyone else. I was just revived by that other shinigami with the big sword about a minute ago. So, what're you gonna do now, Light?"

"What _can_ I do now? The Death Note doesn't work on Z, and some of those fools know that I'm Kira now, so they'll be watching me closely now. It looks like I have no choice but to work with them for the time being." Light clenched his fist in anger. "Damn that Z! He ruined everything!"

"I know what you mean; I thought your plan would've been quite fun to watch. You know, I think I might just help you this one time. We shinigami have our pride too, and we don't take too kindly to others making us look like jokes."

"Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to say that."

Just up ahead of them, Sakura was kneeling down over Haruhi's body, examining her while Naruto, Sasuke, and SD Gundam were already walking up the staircase.

"Hey, guys! Haruhi, she's alive!" Sakura announced.

The others stopped in their tracks to look down at Sakura. "That's great, Sakura!" Naruto yelled. "You can just stay here and heal her while we…"

"No, Naruto! This time, I'm fighting alongside of you!" Sakura insisted.

"But, Sakura…"

"Don't worry, Naruto. I know someone who can help."

And with that, Sakura removed the glove on her right hand. She then bit into her thumb with just enough force to draw blood. Afterwards, the kunoichi performed several hands signs before slamming her hand on the ground. "**SUMMONING JUTSU!**" A slug appeared in a puff of smoke where Sakura laid her hand.

Naruto and Sasuke both blinked in surprise by this. "I didn't know you could use the Summoning Jutsu, Sakura," Naruto confessed.

"Well, since you two both use the same summons as your Sannin sensei, I figured I should too," Sakura explained. She then turned to the slug. "I need you to heal this girl while the rest of us go on and fight."

The slug nodded and wrapped itself around Haruhi's body. As the slug began sending chakra to the injured teenager, Sakura chakra-jumped onto the stairs, rejoining her comrades.

* * *

A few minutes later, Itachi stood at the base of the stairs, looking onward.

"So, we have finally arrived," Itachi thought aloud. But it was only then when he realized that he was all by himself. "Now where did Sasuke go?"

_THUMP!_

Itachi hit the ground in a loud thud, with a shoe imprint on his right temple where Marik had kicked him.

"Bet you didn't see _THAT_ coming, fool! Now it's time you paid for taking what was mine!"

"Itachi! Are you okay?" Amuro yelled out to him in concern.

"Here, let us help you," Krillin offered.

Amuro and Krillin ran to Itachi's aid, and they both helped him get back on his feet. Marik's jaw literally dropped at the sight. "And since when did all of you kiss and make up?" Marik asked in shock.

"Ever since _THAT_!" the three answered in unison as they each pointed to the flight of stairs.

"Look, Marik, we really don't have time to deal with you right now," Krillin added. "We have a common enemy to fight and a world to save."

"So you can either help us, or stay the hell out of our way!" Amuro spat.

"A common enemy, huh?" Marik asked himself as he turned around and stroked his chin. "It must be a powerful one if these goody goodies are willing to team up with a wanted criminal like Itachi." Marik thought about it for a moment before coming to his decision. "That's the type of power I need to see for myself!"

By this much time, Itachi, Krillin, and Amuro were already well on their way up the stairs, but Marik quickly overpassed them by riding on his motorcycle.

"So long, fools!" Marik gloated as he left the others in his dust.

* * *

Eventually, all of the revived fighters had gathered on top of the flight of stairs.

"Well, it looks like the gang's all here," Goku declared cherringly.

"So now all that's left is to knock that Z guy off his high-and-mighty ass!" Edward stated as he balled a fist into his hand in anticipation.

"But we still have one more challenge to face," Yami informed the rest as he pointed to the giant orbs floating in front of them.

"So, Z created a maze from the pieces of our world, eh?" Light analyzed. He then smirked smugly. "It doesn't matter, we'll reach the other side in no time."

"Hold it!" Yusuke warned everyone. The spirit detective then faced Goku. "Hey Goku, can you sense that? From within the maze?"

Goku concentrated hard. "Yeah, I do. It feels like a Red-Eyes Black Dragon. No, it's both a Red-Eyes Black Dragon AND a Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon.

"Confound it, we already defeated it twice!" the Dark Magician cursed.

"And that's not the only thing we have to worry about," Krillin informed him. "I can also sense a centipede demon, a Hollow, and a couple of ninjas in there."

"Wait a minute! You're telling me that Z actually resurrected everyone that we beat before?" Faye shouted in disbelief.

"Damn, that means Epyon is surely in there somewhere too!" Inuyasha growled.

"Hey, I can even sense Emperor Pilaf and his goons in there!" Goku added. "I can recognize those low Power Levels anywhere! I'm also sensing something else. It feels like…us, except that they don't seem to have the same energy signature as the Masses. They feel more like…Shadow Clones."

"WHAT?" Naruto blurted out.

"Sheesh, this is pretty much the equivalent of playing through an entire video game all the way up to the final boss, only for the game to force you to play the entire game again!" Asuna complained.

"Well, if you guys want to get to Z right away, I know how we can do just that. Everyone, hold hands," Goku instructed.

"Whoa, whoa WHOA! I don't play on both sides of the field!" Yusuke exclaimed

"C'mon, Yusuke! I need everyone to touch each other so that I can teleport everyone past the maze," Goku explained.

"OH! THAT'S why you suggested that," Yusuke realized.

"Well, at least Riley isn't here to call all of us gay," said Huey.

And with that, the group gathered into a circle, with each person locking hands with whoever was next to them (and with Ryo-Ohki perched on Chi-Chi's shoulder).

"Alright, everyone, here we go!" Goku announced once he saw that everyone was ready.

In a flash, the fighters all vanished. They reappeared at the same location where Z had trophified the group before. The united band of anime characters looked up and saw Z floating in front of them as if he were waiting for them.

"After all the trouble I went through to set up The Great Maze, and you all just bypass it. That's kind of rude!" Z greeted them affably.

* * *

A/N: Finally! The next chapter is the long awaited final battle! Oh, and you'll find out who's playing Sonic in this fic.


	19. The Final Battle

A/N: Whoo, this was the longest chapter I've ever written! Hope you guys enjoy the second-to-last chapter of my fanfic.

Oh, and Toonami might be coming back. YAY! ^_^

* * *

**Chapter 19: The Final Battle**

"Since you've all gone through the trouble of coming back here, I take it that you all need another demonstration of my power," Z stated with a smirk that radiated total confidence.

"Whatever, purple eye guy!" Luffy yelled, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "Even IF you beat us again, we'll just keep coming back until we beat you!"

"…Except that we HAVE to beat him this time, or we won't get another chance," Itachi corrected. "The Uchiha Brooches only have enough power to work once. If Z manages to convert all of us back to trophy form this time, no one will be left to revive us."

"WHAT!" Luffy's jaw literally dropped to the ground from the revelation.

"Anyone could've figured that much out," Light interjected.

"So it's do-or-die time," Al reflected externally.

Ichigo brandished his oversized sword and pointed it forward. "Then we'll just have to give it everything that we've got!"

"But before that," Naruto took a step forward. "There's just one thing I have to ask you, Z. Why are you doing all of this? Why are you trying to destroy our world?"

"I'm not destroying the world, I'm saving it," Z answered.

"What! You said you're _saving_ the world! What do you mean?" Frieza demanded.

Z folded his arms and closed his eyes for a few seconds, evidently in deep thought, before replying, "Maybe you guys do have the right to know. But I must warn you, none of you are going to like what I'm about to reveal. Are you sure you want to know?"

"I'm the last of my kind because of all of this! I DESERVE an explanation!" SD Gundam exploded in anger.

Z nodded in acknowledgment. "Well, if you're dying to know, I'll tell you. I suppose I should start from the beginning. After I was defeated by Tenchi, instead of being destroyed outright, I _somehow_ ended up here in the Shadow Realm instead, a place of eternal suffering that exists outside of the multiverse that I was familiar with. To my surprise, I found that even with all of my power, I was unable to escape this realm. Being trapped here, I could do nothing but observe other worlds to pass the time. Eventually, a very interesting person caught my attention; Haruhi Suzumiya."

Everyone else blinked in surprise. "Haruhi?" many of them exclaimed out loud.

"That's right, the creator of your world," Z continued. "And she's quite special indeed. When I first discovered her, she was living the life of an ordinary high school student, completely unaware that she wields the power to reshape reality itself. Intrigued, I kept a close eye on her, believing that I could use her to not only escape from here, but to also get my revenge on Tenchi and those Chousins. After watching her for awhile, a few things became apparent to me. One important detail being that at times of great frustration, Haruhi would subconsciously create what others refer to as "closed space", alternate pocket dimensions where gigantic entities called Celestials would wreak havoc in the area encompassing the closed space. If left unchecked, closed space will expand until it completely overlays all of reality as we know it. Fortunately, however, there are espers in her world that can enter closed space and destroy Celestials, which will, in turn, dissolve the clo…"

Spike stretched his arms out and yawned loudly, interrupting Z's story. "Is there a point to all of this? You're boring the crap out of me!" the bounty hunter complained as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"I'm getting to that!" Z snapped back. "Anyway, that's the normal way closed space works. But, the most recent closed space that appeared behaved quite differently."

"Behaved differently? What do you mean by that? TELL ME!" Yami demanded.

"Well, think about it. Haruhi desperately wants to seek out those outside of the ordinary, such as, for example, aliens, time travelers, and espers. However, for a major otaku like her, the only thing even cooler than meeting up with aliens, time travelers, and espers would be seeing them all fight each other to see which side would win. It was this continuously unmet desire that caused Haruhi to create a different kind of closed space; one that didn't house any Celestials at all, but were instead filled other lifeforms."

Amuro's eyes widen in realization. "Hey, wait a minute!"

"You're not trying to say that…!" Negi added.

"…I don't get it," Sailor Moon scratched her head in confusion.

Light buried his face into his palm and sighed. "He's trying to say that OUR world, the Anime World of Trophies, IS the closed space that Haruhi created."

Loud gasps were heard from the heroes that were slower at the uptake. With a nod, Z continued his explanation. "And within this new world, Haruhi unknowingly created copies of her favorite anime characters in the form of trophies come to life. Even more impressively, this world even has its own fully functional ecosystems, truly making it its own functional world. However, like all closed space, the Anime World of Trophies continuously expands its boundaries, except in this case, the catalyst of the growth is the fighting within the world itself. In other words…"

"…Our own existence puts Haruhi's world in danger," Kenshin interjected. "It's because we're nothing but trophies that fight each other; indeed it could be said that fighting is the sole reason of our existence."

"That's exactly right," Z complimented the former manslayer. "And because of those two fighting tournaments you've held before, the Anime World of Trophies grew to the point where the destruction of Haruhi's world, and possibly the entire universe, became imminent. To make matters worse, for some reason, the espers tasked with destroying closed spaces found themselves powerless to do anything about this. It was then when I decided to put my plans on hold and take matters into my own hands. I reached out into Haruhi's world with my Light Hawk Wings and brought her under my control. Of course, she could've easily overpowered me if she knew about her powers, but that's beside the point. Afterwards, I sent her into your world, and used her to recruit a crew a few villains to help me."

"WHAT! We were being used the whole time?" Marik yelled out in disbelief.

"Welcome to three chapters ago," Light sarcastically replied. Z's words lingered in Light's mind for a moment before Light realized something. "Hey, wait a minute! I'm not a villain! I am Justice!" Frieza rolled his eyes.

"But, I knew I would need more than that to enact my plan," Z continued. "Being impressed by the technology of the Isle of the Ancients…"

"I already explained this part!" SD Gundam snapped. "You captured us, enslaved us, and made us do all of those other horrible things!"

"And you took my ship!" Kaiba emphasized.

"But you still haven't explained _why_ you did all of this? Why create bombs that send parts of our world into the Shadow Realm?" Yami questioned Z.

Z shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Isn't it obvious? In order to save all that there is, the Anime World of Trophies needed to be 'quarantined', like I have been."

"But…you would condemn millions of innocent lives to an eternity of damnation?" the Dark Magician objected.

"In order to save billions," Z countered. "After all, I can't rule over the universe if it's destroyed, now can I? And besides, you guys aren't even the real versions of you. You're nothing but trophies brought to life; projections of a girl's imagination."

"So you're saying that the deaths of my people don't matter?" SD Gundam raged.

Asuna took a step forward. "He's right. It doesn't matter if we're just trophies come to life; we still have feelings, hopes and dreams, and we have just as much of a right to live as anyone else."

"So you're saying that you would rather sacrifice the rest of the universe for your own sake?" Z asked.

"Not at all," Negi defended his student. "Instead of going through all of this trouble, you really should've just found a way to contact us and discuss the matter with us. I'm sure we all could've come up with a solution to this dilemma without having to sacrifice anyone or any world."

Z laughed at the suggestion. "Are you really that naïve?"

"If there's one thing I learned from my trip to the Magical World is that there's ALWAYS another way!" Negi insisted.

Sailor Moon backed up the child mage. "He's right. There's no need for anyone to sacrifice themselves for anyone else's sake."

"Oh, and what makes you all so sure about that?" Z interrogated.

"For an anime character, you sure don't know much about anime characters," said Yusuke. "We ALWAYS take the third option. I guess we're just idealistic idiots like that."

Z lowered his head in disappointment. "So it seems you're not going to let me kill you."

"Give up! Trying to make us give up!" Naruto held a clenched fist in front of him. "If there's a way to save all worlds, we'll figure out a way! I know we will!"

Shinji was amazed at the determination of his allies. "I wish I had the resolve you guys have." The Eva pilot then felt a comforting pat on his shoulder.

"But you do, Shinji," Amuro reassured him. "The Pharaoh told me how determined you were to rescue me. I'd say out of all of us, you've grown the most out of this adventure."

A warm smile formed from Shinji's lips. "Thank you, Amuro."

"Which I suppose brings us to another reason why you must be stopped," Marik jumped in. "The kid finally grew a spine; we can't let all of that go to waste!"

"And since it seems that none of us will change our positions on the matter, we'll have to settle this through fighting, since we all know that in anime, whoever's right always has the most might," said Goku.

"And Might. Controls. Everything." Sasuke added as he swung his sword to his right side before raising it above his back and re-sheathing it.

"I don't personally agree with that philosophy, but either way, you must be stopped," Kenshin stated as he got into a battle pose.

"However, you all seem to be forgetting one important thing," Z reminded everyone else.

"Oh, and what would that be, mister?" Chi-Chi asked in an annoyed tone.

"THIS!" And with that, Z's Light Hawk Wings reappeared and everyone else jumped in alarm.

"AAH!" Speed Racer gasped.

"We sure could use some Spiral Power right about now," Shinji lamented.

Z looked downward at his cowering opposition and smirked in triumph. "And as I recall, none of you have the power to stop this attack, so it looks like I'm the one with the most might."

Z gathered energy into his Light Hawk Wings, preparing to take down the heroes with the same unstoppable attack as before. Just when Z was about to unleash his attack and doom the trophies come to life forever…a pillar of rock suddenly shot out from the ground right below him and ensnared his left arm.

"_HUH_?"

Z lost concentration of his attack just long enough for another pillar of rock to ascend from the ground and form around his other arm. As the former servant of Tokimi struggled to free his arms, the rock pillars lowered, dragging Z down to ground level and forcing him to kneel. It was then when someone rushed toward Z and placed their hands on Z's forehead and chest. After taking a deep breath, Z's assailant luminated blue light from his eyes and mouth, and after some sort of chain reaction, Z's eyes and mouths did the same, except that he produced an orange-red light. These lights soon expanded down their bodies and completely engulfed both of them in their respective colors. Afterwards, the blue light coming from the newcomer slowly began to cover Z until it completely overpowered the red light. The blue light intensified to blinding levels briefly before shooting to the sky in a pillar and finally dissipating completely.

With that, Z's aggressor finally released Z from his grip, and the once confident alien staggered weakly to the ground. It was then when Z took a good look at who attacked him. It was a twelve-year-old boy with a shaven head and an arrow tattoo on his forehead. He was wearing orange shawls over a long-sleeved yellow shirt, an orange sash, and a double-layered pair of pants with brown underneath and a loose layer on top.

"Who…who are you?" Z asked in an annoyed tone.

"I'm the Avatar!" Aang announced. "And you've upset the balance of this world by sending it to the Shadow Realm!"

"Oh, is that so?" Z sarcastically replied. He attempted to rematerialize his Light Hawk Wings, but found himself unable to. "What…did you do to me?"

"I took away your ability to manifest your Light Hawk Wings," Aang said. The airbender turned around just in time to have Krillin hug him tightly in gratitude.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I thought we were all goners for sure!" Krillin cried.

Aang gently eased his gratifier off of him. "Uh, you're welcome, but it's no big deal. My show was greatly influenced by anime, so it's only fair that I return the favor. Afterall, if _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ was just another American cartoon, it almost certainly wouldn't have become the best show on Nicktoons.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What're you talking about? _Dragonball Z Kai_ is the best show on Nicktoons," Goku objected.

"Please! Your show did so badly that they cancelled the Buu Saga!" Aang argued.

"That was only in Japan! In America, _Kai_ was a huge hit!"

"Oh, well let's see how well _Legend of Korra_ does!"

"Don't you mean _The Last Airbender:The Legend of Korra_? At least my show isn't called _Dragonball Evolution Kai_!"

"Actually, they just changed the title again."

"D'OH!"

"Ahem!" Z said loudly, interrupting the ensuing argument. "Are you two going to bicker all day, or are we going to fight?" To Goku's and Aang's shock and horror, Z's Light Hawk Wings reappeared, albeit far fainter than usual.

"YOU MONKEYFEATHERER!" Aang threw his staff down in frustration. "I Energybended you! You shouldn't be able to use your Light Hawk Wings anymore!"

"Just now, I bent the energy inside myself to partially undo what you did to me. Granted, I can't use my wings at their full capacity, but this should be enough to finish you all off," Z casually explained.

"That's just…ridiculously haxed," Itachi bemoaned.

Aang and Goku both excreted huge sweat drops in worry. "Oh, well…um," Goku stampered, completely at a loss of words. Then right afterwards, as if on cue, Goku and Aang attacked Z simultaneously with a Kamehameha Wave and a violent gust of wind. However, Z warped himself into the air, easily avoiding both projectiles. Goku and Aang prepared themselves for another assault, but Z teleported once again, throwing them off. This time, Z reappeared behind the Saiyan and Avatar.

"Look out!" Kenshin tried to warn the two.

Z formed a blade of energy with his Light Hawk Wings and dove straight for Goku and Aang, but luckily for them, Kenshin utilized his god-like speed and seemingly appeared right in Z's path to intercept his attack. He then gripped his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"**HITEN MITSURUGI STYLE: ULTIMATE ATTACK!**"

After a flash, Z suddenly found himself flying into the air in immense pain, along with a huge bruise across his chest, thus becoming the latest victim of the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. However, the former manslayer wasn't done with Z just yet, as he leaped on top of his still airborne opponent.

"**HITEN MITSURUGI STYLE: MEI RYU SEN!**"

Kenshin sheathed his sword in such blinding speed that it caused a localized sonic boom. Z hollered in pain as one of his eardrums burst, but he teleported away before Kenshin could do anymore damage to him.

"You'll pay for that!" Z threatened as he rematerialized high in the air. Z then produced a golden chain from his hand, similar to the ones he used to ensnare Haruhi. He swung the chain down at the combatants, grabbing Alphonse with it.

"Al, NO!" Ed cried.

Z effortlessly picked up the younger Elric brother and swung him around with the chain.

"Don't worry, Al! I'll save you! **ADEAT!**"

Asuna again pulled out her pactio card, but this time, the card transformed into an oversized sword. A single swing of the sword in Z's direction was all Asuna needed to do to dispel the chains, causing Al to land in a thud. As Ed ran to check up on his younger brother, Krillin took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on Z.

"**CHAIN DESTRUCTO DISK BARRAGE!**"

Krillin threw four rapid fire Destructo Disks at his enemy, but Z warped away before any of them could touch him.

"What? No way!" Krillin yelled in disbelief.

"So, you like throwing sharp disks, eh? Well, try MINES on for size!" Z retaliated by producing his own giant, five-bladed shuriken that he then propelled at Goku's closest friend. The shuriken travelled faster than Krillin expected, but he still narrowly dodged the projectile.

"Ha, you missed!" Krillin laughed, which proved to be his undoing, as the shuriken boomeranged back and hit Krillin from behind, sending him flying far.

Frieza facepalmed. "Fool."

Z teleported yet again, this time reappearing far into the background. As Z harnessed energy into his Light Hawk Wings, Chihiro pointed to his location. "He's about to use the same attack that took us out last time!" the young girl yelled.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Itachi reassured her. "**AMATERASU!**"

Z's jacket inexplicitly ignited in black flames. Thinking quickly, Z warped from his spot, leaving the jacket behind as the black flames burned it to a crisp before it even touched the ground.

The moment Z showed himself, Luffy, already in his Gear Second Mode, took his turn to attack.

"**GUM GUM JET GATLING!**"

The pirate made of rubber barraged Z with a volley of punches so fast that looked like mere jet streams being fired from a gun. During his offensive, Sakura, once again transformed into her Inner Sakura persona, Body Flickered behind Z and spammed her own rapid fire punches, trapping him in place. "SHANNARO!" Inner Sakura yelled.

The kunoichi's confidence was short lived as Z dematerialized, this time leaving an explosion in his wake. Luffy and Inner Sakura were both blown to the earth hard, their hands badly burned.

"And let that be a lesson to the rest of you," Z lectured as he came back into sight. "Don't be so eager to attack me when I teleport." And with that, Z coated himself in a shark-shaped blade and darted towards the group of combatants at alarming speed, at least until…

"**AUTOMAIL ARRRRRRRRM!**"

Edward dashed forward with his automail arm extended in front of him, meeting Z's attack head-on. Surprisingly, the young alchemist completely overpowered Z's charge, and the powerful antagonist is sent spiraling into the air. Ed turned to Z and pointed while glaring daggers at him. "And that was for Al, you bastard!"

While Z was down, Al transmuted a large dome made of earth to trap him inside. This didn't imprison him for long, as Z birthed multiple explosive projections of himself and used them to detonate the walls surrounding him.

"HEY! Creating clones is MY shtick!" Naruto complained, already in Sage Mode. In haste, he created two Shadow Clones to gather and mold chakra into his palm.

Ichigo, meanwhile, placed a hand over his face, gathering spiritual energy. When he let his hand down, the gathered energy manifested into a menacing skull mask with two vertical black stripes on each side. Hollow Ichigo then rose his hand, ready to strike with the Tensa Zangetsu.

"**WIND STYLE: RASENSHURIKEN!**"

"**GETSUGA TENSHO!**"

Naruto and Ichigo both launch their powerful attacks towards Z. Undeterred, Z fired a small projectile from his hand, intercepting both incoming dangers and prematurely detonating them.

"You're going to have to do better than that," Z mocked. What Z didn't notice however, was the bullet Spike fired right afterwards, which led to said bullet embedding into his shoulder. "DAMMIT!" Z cursed as blood oozed down his arm.

"Bang," Spike said while still holding his gun.

The next to attack was Frieza, who emanated a purple energy wave from his right hand while declaring, "**YOU WILL DIE BY MY HAND!**"

Z saw the incoming energy wave aimed his way. "YOU FOOL!" he replied, countering the attack by manifesting a dragon-head shaped cannon and retaliating with his own energy wave. The two energy waves collided, but Z's was clearly more powerful, as it pushed back Frieza's ki with relative ease.

Before Z could win the tug-o-war, Sailor Moon came to Frieza's aid. She held into the air a heart-shaped golden brooch with angel wings. "**MOON ETERNAL MAKE UP!**" After a lengthy transformation, Sailor Moon's uniform changed radically, the most noticeable addition being the two pairs of angelic wings that adorned her back and waist area. She was now in her most powerful form, Eternal Sailor Moon.

Eternal Sailor Moon summoned a white wand with a crown-like tip and a round, winged center from her hand. "**CRYSTAL POWER KISS!**" Eternal Sailor Moon's weapon, the Eternal Tiare, emitted golden beams of light that mixed in and strengthened Frieza's energy wave. The unlikely duo's combined attacks pushed back Z's wave and advanced until it nearly reached him.

"BEAUTIFUL!..Psyche!" Z teased. Adding only a little bit more power into his attack, Z completely overwhelmed Frieza and Eternal Sailor Moon energy beams within seconds and blasted both of them with his dragon-head cannon.

"MEOWWWWW!" Ryo-Ohki, now in her spaceship form, fired several shots of red lasers at Z haphazardly, hoping one would hit. The former space fighter pilot raised a hand to block a shot headed for him, but the laser gets through his defense, to his slight surprise.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Z reminded himself as he looked at his wounded hand. "She IS Washu's daughter, after all." The transformed cabbit then descended towards Z with her underside exposed, intending to impale him with her sharp end. Raising his hand again, Z stopped Ryo-Ohki attack completely. "Which means I must take her out now!" Z realized.

"Hey, Z!"

Shinji emerged from inside Ryo-Ohki and leapfrogged his way to Z in a single bound.

"**LET'S SEE YOU **_**GRIT THOSE TEETH!**_"

Completely taken aback by Shinji's boldness, Z was punched in the face so hard that he was knocked at least 50 feet back, leaving Shinji's fist smoking.

Still disoriented, Z got back on his feet, only to find himself standing on a racetrack. Speed Racer, while driving his Mach Five, rammed right into Z with his racecar, yet again smacking the villain airborne.

However, Z recovered in midair, the latest string of attacks only making him angrier than ever. "How dare you! I must now squash you like the bugs that you are!" As Z said this, he grew to a gigantic size.

"You think making yourself bigger will help you?" Aang pointed at the now humongous Z. "**NOW I'LL SHOW YOU!**"

Aang once again entered the Avatar State, this time encasing himself within a sphere a wind. The young monk then spat fire from his mouth and limbs, bending the fire to form a fire ring around himself. In addition, Aang controlled the rocks surrounding the area, as well as a nearby source of water, creating two more elemental rings to encircle him. With those powers combined, Aang took to the air in a collision course straight to Z.

Unimpressed, Z swatted Aang away with ease. "You will die!" the now colossal-sized enemy declared.

"Well, it's MY move now!" said Yami as placed three cards onto his Duel Disk. "I summon my three Egyptian God Cards and once again combine them to form Horakhty!"

As the three God Cards merged together to become the Creator God of Light, Kaiba walked beside his rival. "Don't think I'll let you show me up, Yugi. I summon all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons! Next, I use Polymerization to fuse my dragons to form…the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

The three dragons that projected from Kaiba's Duel Disk disappeared, replaced by an even bigger and more ferocious-looking, three-headed dragon. Side-by-side, the two Duel Monsters stared off against the giant Z.

"**NEUTRON BLAST!**" Kaiba commanded his monster.

"**DJESERU!**" Horakhty cried out.

Horakhty and the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon both fired their attacks, aimed straight for Z's head. Z countered with lasers shot from his eyes, which not only pierced through the Duel Monsters' attacks, but penetrated the monsters themselves, causing them to shatter in a spectacular fashion.

"My Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba called out in disbelief while Yami grunted in frustration.

With Z's attention drawn to the duelists, Huey pounced at Z, rearing his fist back in preparation of zapping Z with the Black Power Fist. On the ground, Sasuke noticed that the black flames from Itachi's Amaterasu still burned far off into the distance, creating the perfect conditions for one of Sasuke's most powerful attacks.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I guess I'll have to thank Itachi for that Amaterasu earlier, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this," said the younger Uchiha brother. Sasuke performed a few hand signs and raised his hand into the air. "**KIRIN!**"

Sapping the lightning from the thunder clouds created by the black fire, Sasuke guided the lightning towards Huey's Black Power Fist. The revolutionary's home-made weapon absorbed Sasuke's Kirin, augmenting its power even further, just in time for Huey to shock and completely paralyze Z with high-voltage electricity.

While Z was immobilized, Ryuk grabbed Light and raised him to Z's eye level. "Z, you don't look so good," Light taunted. "Here, why don't you take a potato chip…**AND EAT IT!**"

With that, Light chunked a potato chip into Z's mouth. Choking on the snack, Z gagged, desperate for air.

"Here! This will clear your throat!" said Chihiro as she fed Z an emetic dumpling. True to her word, Z regurgitated the potato chip jammed in his throat, along with everything else he ate that week, covering half the battlefield with his vomit.

"Eww, Chihiro!" Aang held his nose in disgust. "Warn us the next time you do that!" With his free hand, Aang waterbended the vomit high into the air and dropped it into the Amaterasu flames.

Z, meanwhile, had reverted back to his original size. "Maybe I shouldn't make myself such a huge target," he said to himself. Right afterwards, Z took a bullet to the knee, whereas the rest of the shower of bullets aimed in his general direction missed entirely. Z looked in the direction the bullets came from and saw the smoking barrel of Faye's Heckler & Koch MP5K aimed at him.

"Looks like I can still hit you even at your original size," Faye smirked confidently.

"And _I_ can still utterly destroy him with my Millennium Rod!" Marik jumped in. The crazed Egyptian then let loose bolts of electricity from his rod whilst laughing like a madman. In his amusement, Marik didn't notice that Z teleported away and that Marik only succeeded in hitting _Faye_.

"Marik, what the _hell_ are you doing!" Faye yelled at the tomb keeper. The momentary distraction was all Z needed to ensnare Faye with two glowing brackets and slamming her hard into Marik.

Inuyasha unsheathed his sword and pointed it threateningly at Z. "I refuse to allow such a bastard to continue to hurt my comrades, so go to hell! And I mean that quite literally! **MEIDO ZANGETSUHA!**" As Inuyasha called his attack, the blade of his Tetsusaiga turned black. With a swing of the sword, a portal opened up at Z's location. The portal swallowed up Z completely before dissipating, sending him straight to the underworld.

"Well, I guess that's the end of Z," Ichigo congratulated Inuyasha.

"SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!" Z randomly yelled as he reappeared and roundhouse kicked Ichigo in the face. Before Inuyasha could respond to Z's reemergence, Z warped right in front of the half-demon and repeatedly slashed him with his bare hands.

Sakura, now out of her 'Inner Sakura' transformation, rushed to aid Inuyasha. From behind Z, she flung several bags into the air. Next, Sakura threw some kunai to cut the bags open above Z's head. Cherry blossom petals rained on Z, distracting him long enough for Inuyasha to escape his assault.

"Petals? Is that the best you can do?" Z laughed. Right after he said that, Z took notice of an explosive tag that had attached itself on his arm. After further inspection of his body and surrounding area, Z's eyes widen in horror as he realized that Sakura merely used the petals to camouflage the explosive tags she covered him with.

"No, THIS is the best I can do! **SAKURA BLIZZARD JUTSU!**" With that, Sakura threw a kunai with an activated explosive tag attached right at Z's feet. The activated explosive tag exploded, igniting the other tags and shrouding Z in a spectacular explosion.

Teleporting to higher altitude, Z retaliated against Sakura by firing a barrage of bullets from his fingertips. However, a strong gust of wind, courtesy of Chi-Chi and her Bansho Fan, blew the bullets from their trajectory, saving Sakura from Z's assault.

Yusuke, in his demon form, stepped up to Z and pointed at him. "Hey, jerkass! I'M the one who shoots energy from his fingers around here! Here, I'll give you a taste! **DEMON GUN MEGA!**"

A huge concentration of demonic energy fired from Yusuke's index finger. Z countered by shooting an equally large energy sphere. The two projectiles collided in midflight and cancelled each other out.

Z dematerialized yet again, but upon his reemergence, a Dark Magic Attack struck him in the back of the head. Rubbing the sore spot, Z angrily turned around. "Which one of you shot me?" he demanded.

"It was I!" the Dark Magician confessed proudly.

"However, you'll have a hard time taking your revenge against Dark Magician once I play Magical Hats!" said Yami as he placed a Trap Card on his Duel Disk. Four overgrown magician hats with question marks on them appeared above Dark Magician. One of the hats hid the Duel Monster as the hats descended to the ground and shuffled around. "And now, you're going to have to guess which hat the Dark Magician is hidden under!"

Z did nothing but raise an eyebrow. "Really? I mean, _REALLY?_" With a mere pointing gesture, five flashes briefly appeared next to the four Magical Hats and Yami before fading away. After a few second delay, explosions occurred where the flashes appeared, blowing up the Magical Hats, the Dark Magician, AND Yami.

"You're not getting away from this!" said Amuro, finally entering the fray. The Newtype launched both his Fin Funnels and his miniature beam rifle after Z, commanding the weapons through thought alone. As Amuro's artillery surrounded and opened fire upon Z, the apparition of a woman appeared, but only for a fleeting moment. The crossfire of lasers and beams converged upon Z, but to Amuro's disappointment, Z projected an atom-like barrier around himself, remaining untouched from Amuro's weaponry.

Z took this opportunity to gloat. "You see this? This is the ultimate defense of the Light Hawk Wings. See for yourself just how powerless you really are."

"Roger that."

Gasping, Z looked up at the direction of the voice, only to find himself staring at the barrel of SD Gundam's beam rifle far above him. SD Gundam pulled the trigger, breaking through Z's defenses and flattening him with a beam of immense destructive power.

"THAT'S IT, NO MORE GAMES!" Z declared, finally at his limit. Z again warped to the far background and gathered massive amounts of energy into his Light Hawk Wings.

"Oh, so you're going back to that?" Negi questioned. "Well, then, I suppose it's time I use MY trump cards! **SINISTRA EMISSA STAGNET CHILIPL ASTRAPE! DEXTRA EMISSA STAGNET CHILIPL ASTRAPE!**" Negi summoned two big balls of lightning, hovering over each hand. However, the young mage wasn't done yet. "**DUPLEX! COMPLEXIO! SUPPLEMENTUM PRO ARMATIONEM!**" The two lightning spells were absorbed into Negi's very soul, transforming his body. A shroud of electricity emitted from Negi's body, and his hair grew to waist-length.

In his new form, Negi began chanting yet another Latin incantation. "**DUABUS EMISSAE, DEXTRA STAGNANS 'KHILIPL ASTRAPE', SINISTRA STAGNANS 'IACULATIO FULGORIS'! UNISONENT!**"

A _HUGE_ spear made of lightning, large enough to pierce even a giant, materialized in Negi's right hand. Negi pointed the dangerous weapon in Z's direction and smiled confidently. "How about we end this in a contest of strength; your Light Hawk Wings versus my Spear of the Lightning God."

Z laughed at the challenge. "You really think that spear of yours could possibly stand up to the power of the Light Hawk Wings? If you want to die so badly, far be it by me to keep you waiting!"

Without any further hesitation, Z again unleashed his most powerful move. Even as the shockwaves edged closer to Negi, the young teacher opted not to throw his Spear of the Lightning God.

"Why are you hesitating, are you giving up?" Z asked in a mocking tone.

But Negi stood his ground, even as the deadly shockwaves encroached upon him. Just when it seemed that Negi's demise was imminent, the ten-year-old held his left hand forward. "**NEGICA MAGIA EREBEA: CIRCULI ABSORTIONIS EXTREMPORE!**"

Underneath Negi's feet, a magic circle big enough to cover the entire battleground suddenly became visible. The magic barrier protected Negi perfectly as Z's Off Waves made contact. Not only that, Negi also soaked up and took control of all of the energy of the attack.

"WHAT? He _ABSORBED_ my attack?" Z yelled with an 'Oh Crap!' look on his face. "But when did he have time to prepare a giant magic circle?" And then realization hit Z like a ton of bricks. "Wait! Don't tell me that he prepared that while I was fighting everyone else!"

"That's right!" Negi confirmed. "You may be more powerful than us, but with all of us working together, we can accomplish many things. Including toppling a power even greater than the gods themselves!"

And before Z could even process another thought, he felt the titan-slaying Spear of the Lightning God, augmented with his own stolen power, pierce into his stomach and pinning him to the ground. He laid there electrocuted and motionless with the spear still embedded in him.

Smiling in satisfaction, Negi depowered back to his base form and collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Yusuke ran to his aid and helped the mage get back up on his feet. "Holy crap! You actually did it! I can't sense Z's energy at all anymore!" Yusuke stated in disbelief.

"Then…my plan…was a success," Negi said in between heavy panting.

"Alright! Let's all go out for some ramen to celebrate!" Naruto proposed excitedly.

"Eh," Huey shrugged.

"'_Eh?_' What do you mean '_Eh?_'" Naruto interrogated Huey, behaving like the younger boy had just performed sacrilege.

"'Eh' means 'Eh.'"

"Oh, so I guess you want _meat_ instead!"

"I didn't say that!"

As the two went back and forth, something troubled Yami. "But something is wrong. If Z is indeed no more, than our world should be returning to normal, but we're all still here in the Shadow Realm," the King of Games voiced his concern.

"That's a very good observation," said a voice coming from behind him.

Everyone turned to find the source of the voice…before being sent flying by a fully-charged Off Waves attack coming from a very much alive Z.

The Trophy World inhabitants were all thrown to the ground in random directions, battered and bruised to the point where they could no longer stand up, let alone fight.

"Well I must admit," stood Z with his arms folded, "You guys actually put up a good fight, but it's over now. If you admit defeat now, I promise I'll make your deaths quick and painless."

"NO!" Shinji balled his fist in frustration. "I didn't run away! I fought valiantly, we all did, but despite all of our efforts, it just wasn't enough!"

"Is this really how it ends?" Al asked, his suit completely unresponsive now due to the extensive damage it took. "I just wanted to remember what it was like to feel one more time before I died."

"Mom…Dad…Haku…I'm so sorry," Chihiro despaired as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Don't throw in the towel just yet, guys. This fight isn't over yet!"

Chihiro, along with all the other fallen fighters, looked up and saw that, despite his major injuries, Goku was up on his feet, prepared to make a last stand against Z.

"Still some fight left, I see. Well then, I'll just have to fix that," said Z. True to his commitment, Z formed a sword of energy on his arm and made several attempts to slice Goku, but the Saiyan dodged each slash.

As he remained on the defensive, Goku communicated telepathically with his teammates. "Everyone, right now, I'm almost out of energy, so all I can do right now is avoid his attacks and keep him at bay for as long as I can. But, if all of you transfer your remaining energy to me, I just may be able to beat him at his current level of strength. C'mon everyone, this is our last chance!"

Krillin nodded. "Alright, Goku. Here's my energy." Krillin raised his hand, guiding his remaining energy from his body to Goku's.

"We're just going to have to put our faith in Goku," Sakura followed suit by giving Goku her energy.

"So it all comes down to this last draw. Heart of the Cards, guide us," prayed Yami before lending Goku his energy.

"Go get him, honey," Chi-Chi encouraged before surrendering her energy.

"Well…this is awkward," Frieza admitted. Nevertheless, he too gave Goku his remaining energy. "There's your stupid energy! Just don't think this'll change anything between us, you no good Saiyan monkey!"

"This all sounds like a bunch of hocus-pocus nonsense!" Kaiba complained. He then felt the murderous glares of everyone else. "But I suppose there could be some truth to this nonsense," he retracted before giving up his energy.

It wasn't long before everyone contributed their remaining energy to Goku. Z swung his sword again, and Goku, now rejuvenated, finally went on the offensive by snapping Z's sword into pieces with his bare hand.

"_NO WAY!_" Z shouted.

"Yes way!" Goku replied with a smirk. Goku then surprised Z again by powering up to his Super Saiyan 3 form.

Z was foaming in the mouth in anger. "But _HOW_? You were so weak that you couldn't even attack before, and now you're back to full strength? Where did this power come from?"

"Boy, Yusuke was right. You _really don't_ know much about anime characters, do you? Well, let me break it down for you. For us anime main characters, our friends ARE our power! Except in the case, I mean that quiet literally!" Goku explained.

"W-What?" said Z, now backing away in fear.

"And on behalf of everyone who united together to combat your threat, as well as all the lives you destroyed, I'll make sure that you will **PAY** for all the atrocities you committed, Z! **DRAGON FIST!**"

Goku put his fist forward, and a golden Chinese dragon made out of ki exploded out of him. Z gasped in absolute terror as the dragon let out his ferocious roar. "N-no! Stay back!" Z begged and pleaded, but it was too late for him as the dragon ripped right through his body, leaving a gaping hole in his stomach.

"This is impossible! How could I lose to the likes of you! I have the Light Hawk Wings! Only I deserve to rule over everything! N-N-NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" were Z's final words before he exploded into a flash of light.

The Shadow Realm threat to the Anime World of Trophies was now truly over.


	20. Epilogue

A/N: Well, here we are. The final chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 20: Epilogue**

"_Ugh, what happened_?" was Haruhi's first thought as she woke up. Her back arced up as Haruhi opened her eyes, surprised to see that she was laying in the comfort of her own bed. Haruhi looked around, confirming that she was in the familiar surroundings of her room.

"_For some reason, I get the feeling that I had just met a whole bunch of unordinary people, but for some reason I can't remember any of it now_," Haruhi thought to herself. As her mind raced, her mild mood quickly turned to hysteria. "Oh no! They _MUST'VE_ wiped my memory! Man this sucks!" she shouted aloud. After the outburst, she remained quiet, reflecting on the situation for a moment before clutching her fist in determination. "Well, if THAT'S how they're going to be, I'll just have to redouble the SOS Brigades' efforts at finding interesting people! And when we do find them, I won't be caught off-guard this time!"

Just then, she noticed something at the corner of her eye. She turned to her nightstand and saw a Nintendo Wii game that wasn't there before. "Anime All-Stars! Dairanto Smash Bros X!" Haruhi read as she picked up the video game. As she took a glimpse of the game's cover, she lit up in excitement! "Whoa! Goku, Naruto, Dark Magician, Yami Yugi, Marik, Kenshin, Yusuke, Spike Spiegel, Chi-Chi, Sailor Moon, and Sasuke are all in this game?" She then looked at the back of the cover. "And they even put a couple of American cartoon characters in this game! How come I've never heard of this game before?"

As she sat and pondered this, a devious smile crept on her face, already beginning to think of the SOS Brigade's next case.

* * *

It was a beautiful daybreak in the Anime World of Trophies. The Shadow Realm was completely dissipated from this plane of reality. All of the places that were detonated by Shadow Realm Bombs were now back in their original locations, and the people that were sucked into the Shadow Realm were making full recoveries.

The lone exception to this was the Isle of the Ancients, its former location now marked by an x-shaped light in the sky. Everyone who fought against Z stood on the edge of their world, watching the sun rise over the horizon.

"Man, I still can't believe that we actually won," Krillin sighed in relief.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but I'm glad it's all over," said Shinji.

"Oh, but this isn't the ending…" Aang smiled, "…but rather a new beginning."

"But there's something I still don't get," Sailor Moon admitted. "When Haruhi first came to, why did we tell her to imagine this world as of like it was inside of a video game?"

Light buried his face into his palm and groaned loudly. "We've been over this. Haruhi converting this world into a video game prevents it from expanding and threatening her world. A simple solution, if you ask me."

"And yet, Z didn't think of it. I suppose when he saw Haruhi's power, he only thought of her potential power for destruction to use against his enemies, whereas we saw her potential to create," Kenshin theorized.

"And of course, another good reason to turn this world into a video game is that as long as Haruhi plays, it will leave her content, preventing any more Anime World of Trophies from being created," Amuro added.

"Ah, okay," Sailor Moon nodded, accepting the explanations. "But that still doesn't explain why Negi erased her memories of all of this right as she was warping back to her world."

The young mage shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I was just being cautious. I'm sure there must be a reason why Haruhi didn't know about her powers before, and I felt that it might be a safer option if things remained in the status quo for her."

As Negi finished his explanation, Frieza looked around, taking note of absurdity of him fighting alongside his enemies. "Well, well…" said Frieza. The heroic characters turned to face him. "So, this is that warm and fuzzy feeling heroes get when they defeat the forces of evil. Quaint."

"Oh, that's right, _you're_ here," Krillin said unenthusiastically. He then quickly got into a battle stance. "Don't even think about double-crossing us, because with Goku here, along with the rest of us, you don't stand a chance of winning!"

Frieza chuckled in amusement. "Fortunately for you, I'm in a good mood right now, so I've decided to spare all of you today." He then glared at Goku. "But next time we meet, I WILL destroy you, you filthy monkey!"

"Would you PLEASE stop calling people monkeys?" Huey interjected.

"The same goes for me too, Pharaoh!" Marik added on to Frieza's statement. "I'll postpone your torment for a later date."

"After all of the fighting that's happened, perhaps we should all call a truce for today," Itachi suggested. As he said this, Sasuke snuck behind Itachi and began drawing his sword. "And that goes for you too, Sasuke," Itachi said without turning around.

Cursing under his breath, the younger Uchiha brother grudgingly re-sheathed his sword. "Fine, Itachi. But we'll settle things soon enough."

"And then you'll come back to the Leaf Village, right?" Naruto asked. Sasuke made no comment. "_Right_?"

"Itachi does have a point, though. Maybe you all should take an extended vacation," Light suggested with his trademark insincere politeness.

"Oh, that's right! You just reminded me of something that I have to do, Light," said Negi.

"And what's that?" Light asked.

"THIS!"

Negi pointed his wand at the Death Note owner and blasted Light with a spell strong enough to knock him off his feet.

"Huh? What happened? And why am I on the ground?" Light blinked, still disoriented. Getting up on his feet, Light looked around frantically in a panic. "HOW THE HELL DID I GET HERE? WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE? AND WHY DO I GET THE FEELING THAT I'VE JUST BEEN _UTTERLY_ DEFEATED?"

Ryuk laughed out loud at Light's predicament. "Oh man, this is too rich!"

"SHUT UP, RYUK!" Light spat.

"So, you wiped his memory of all of this?" SD Gundam asked Negi. "Good! He was probably planning on writing all of your names in the Death Note afterwards." He then looked down sadly. "Unfortunately, I'll never be able to forget all that I have lost."

"But what about your island?" Chihiro asked. "Every other place that was sent to the Shadow Realm came back, so shouldn't that come back too?"

SD Gundam shook his head. "Unfortunately, because of the number of Shadow Realm Bombs that were used, the island was destroyed outright and it can never be restored. That crossed-shaped mark in the sky is the only evidence that the Isle of the Ancients was ever there at all."

To show his sympathy, Amuro placed a hand on SD Gundam's shoulder. "Well, how about you stay with me at my place?"

SD Gundam turned and looked at Amuro in the eyes. "R-really? I mean, I don't want to impose…"

"Nonsense! I prefer the company of machines to people anyway. Besides, I'm sure that if I study your design long enough, I'll be able to reverse-engineer more SD mobile suits. I know it won't be the same as bringing back your friends, but at least we can preserve the legacy of your race."

SD Gundam's optics teared up, moved by Amuro's proposal. "Alright, I'll take you up on that offer," SD Gundam agreed, wiping his tears away.

"So it looks like things turned out alright for everyone," said Goku. "Well, except for the Bebop crew, I guess."

"Don't remind us," Spike groaned. He and Faye were both slumped over in depression, thinking about the costs of repairing the Swordfish II and the Bebop.

"Well things didn't turn out so well for me either," Kaiba complained. "My ship was destroyed too, you know."

"Yeah, but you're filthy rich!" Faye countered. She then thought about what she just said. "_Hey, wait a minute, he's RICH!_" The female bounty hunter then pointed her gun at Kaiba's face. "Give us the money to repair our ships!"

Kaiba made no reaction aside from him rolling his eyes. "Fine, whatever!"

"Yep, still got it," Faye smirked as she put her gun away.

"Okay, so _now_ things turned out alright for everyone," Goku corrected himself. "But what do we do now?"

"How about we all strike a pose as the end credits roll by?" Edward suggested.

Goku shrugged. "Alright."

And so, everyone struck a pose.

* * *

Audi famam illius. / I've heard legends of that person

Solus in hostes ruit / How he plunged into enemy territory

et patriam servait. / How he saved his homeland

Audi famam illius. / I've heard legends of that person

Cucurrit quaeque / How he traveled the breadth of the land

tetigit destruens. / Reducing all he touched to rubble

Audi famam illius. / I've heard legends of that person

Audi famam illius. / I've heard legends of that person

Spes omnibus, mihi quoque. / Revered by many – I, too, revere him

Terror omnibus, mihi quoque. / Feared by many – I, too, fear him

Ille / Now, that person

iuxta me. / Stands at my side

Ille iuxta me. / Now that person stands at my side

Socii sunt mihi. / Now my friends are with me

qui olim viri fortes / Some of them were once heroes

rivalesque erant. / Some, my mortal enemies

Saeve certando / And as we face each other in battle

pugnandoque / Locked in combat

splendor crescit. / We shine ever brighter

* * *

"WHAT? This is the end of the fanfic? I can't believe we never made an appearance, BELIEVE IT!" whined a blond-haired twelve-year-old boy with whiskers and wearing an orange and blue jumpsuit.

Accompanying Kid Naruto were two others. One of them was a small and round-shaped Duel Monster with brown hair that covered its entire body, big yellow eyes, and small stubby arms and legs. The Duel Monster flew over to Kid Naruto and made a noise.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Kuriboh. Maybe we'll get a chance next time," Kid Naruto replied.

Upon hearing that, the third companion smiled sinisterly. He was a 27-year-old grey haired pretty boy with baggy eyes, wearing a black suit and wielding a katana blade.

"Next time, Spike…" said Vicious. "…we're going to have fun in this thing!"

THE END

P.S.: Toonami is back, bitches! :)


End file.
